One plus One Equals
by Artisticmom2
Summary: 1 and 1 are 2, right?  Not so.  Find out what Jon and Hoshi go through to move from being "just old friends" to "new lovers" and whatever happens after that!  Reviews are very respectfully requested!
1. Chapter 1

They had been sent to a remote sector of space to do some exploration. Something other then coddle fractious Klingons or moody Andorians. He was thrilled to be back at what he was good at. Coming upon another sentient species so soon was just the icing on the proverbial cake. First contact with them had gone well although he had to admit they were the strangest life forms he had met thus far, even including the aquatic Xindi. They called themselves the Binare and Starfleet was anxious to form an alliance with them. They were walking computers in people suits.

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Hoshi had been over the Binare's customs and laws. She had advised Captain Archer that sending only pairs of people down would be prudent. The Binares were linked to each other in pairs and any other arrangement would be difficult for them to mentally process. They didn't want to upset them needlessly when Starfleet had hopes of gaining so much from them. Their technology was so advanced and they were so willing to share. All the Binares wanted from Starfleet was muscle. After advancing so much as a society and a species there was nothing left in them to protect themselves with.

Captain Archer had chosen himself paired with Hoshi and Commander Tucker paired with Sub Commander T'Pol. Hoshi could help him translate and interpret their society and T'Pol could help Trip with the engineering and science end. Enterprise would get a complete retrofit from the Binares with Trip and T'Pol overseeing while he would be busy negotiating a protection agreement.

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They were all tired at the end of the first day. Both Trip and T'Pol had had difficulties keeping up mentally with what the Binares had proposed for the retrofit. Captain Archer and Hoshi had been dealing with a very alien culture all day. Nothing was simple about them. Not even their language of only zeros and ones. They were paired off at birth and connected mentally to each other via computer parts shortly thereafter. They used the few years between birth and three to add all the artificial parts needed to connect not only the pair to each other but to the society as a whole. They were one big collective. It was kind of creepy and Archer and Hoshi were having a hard time keeping their reactions to themselves.

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Hoshi and a Binare pair Trip had dubbed "Squeaky" had set up the UTs to translate from binary code to English. The UT had produced a high-set falsetto voice for this pair. Fortunately the pair that was doing the negotiations had been given a much lower pitched voice. "Vader" was an older pair and seemed much less excitable then Squeaky was. Vader was busy leading them off into the depths of their main government complex showing them where they could take their "down time". Apparently, the Binares didn't sleep so much as shut down periodically so that their organic parts could rest and rejuvenate. Once again, they were sort of creepy.

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"Here are your chambers. There are two rest chambers sharing a central… what is your word… elimination? Refreshment? No, Refresher chamber… for your convenience. You have only to call for organic sustenance upon the end of your down time cycle and it will be brought to you here. Then we will resume our work." Without another word the small binare pair wheeled around in perfect step together and left. "Well, let's see where we're sleeping" said Captain Archer as he led them in through the open door.

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The arrangements only added to the strangeness of an already strange species. Two rest chambers were outfitted with one slightly padded slab for a bed. Something that resembled a super long pillow and one blanket were obviously added later as an afterthought for their more "organic" bodies. Hoshi remarked that the Binares really thought of themselves as walking computers. They had almost no thoughts of their organic shells. "The pairs even sleep together. This should prove to be amusing." He heard Hoshi mutter to herself.

Coming to a decision in his mind Archer walked over to Trip and T'Pol who were in the refresher examining the facilities. He knew that they still carried on a rather discreet relationship and he was glad for them that they had worked through the death of Elizabeth in addition to all their other problems. Convincing them to take this opportunity for some much-needed privacy away from the rest of the crew wasn't as hard as he had expected. Trip was flat out grateful and T'Pol had put up a token argument but her logic wasn't overly sound so he overruled her anyways. He didn't think Hoshi would mind sharing a room since she too was aware of Trip and T'Pol's relationship. She wouldn't begrudge them this time away from prying eyes. Besides, they had known each other since she was 16. He was more like an older brother to her then a captain.

"I've given them the other room," he said as he came back into the rest chamber. Hoshi looked up with mild surprise. She had been examining the sparse room. Smiling, she said, "I understand, I'll take the floor, sir." And with that she pulled her jacket off the hook it was on and grabbed her duffle bag for a pillow. Taking the jacket and duffle from her he replied, "No, it's my call, I'll take the floor." Adding in a teasing tone "You're too delicate to sleep on the floor" Grinning at her annoyed expression "Besides, my father would've smacked me in the head if he found out I wasn't a gentleman." Hearing a soft 'whatever' as Hoshi turned and grabbed the pillow "Here, at least take the pillow" he suppressed a chuckle but couldn't quite get the smirk off of his face. It was Hoshi that started to laugh as she threw the pillow and hit him in the face with it. Picking it up off the floor he chuckled as she went into the refresher to change.

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Several hours later he was still awake as he lay there on the floor. The floor was just as hard as it looked and he wasn't getting any younger. Hoshi lay quietly on the "bed" after tossing and turning for a while. Apparently, the beds weren't overly comfortable either. And it was cold. The Binares favored a cold environment and once he had stopped moving, his body had cooled down considerably. Quite frankly, he was miserable! A small sigh escaped him.

"You know, you could just come up here and share the bed. You really should get a better night's sleep then what you're getting on the floor."

He sat up looking at Hoshi. "Are you sure, because I can tough it out down here."

"Yes, I'm sure. I wouldn't have offered otherwise. Besides, you need to sleep. You're the one doing all the negotiating. I can always fall back on the UT for help. I wouldn't want you to fall apart at the seams, old man!"

"Old Man! Thanks Hoshi, you really know how to hurt a guy." He replied ruefully as he grabbed the pillow and tossed it to the bed. Getting up he groaned softly causing Hoshi to softly laugh all the more. Climbing into bed he settled down on his side with his back to her. Hoshi had finally stopped giggling, had rolled to her side, and was starting to breath deeply as she murmured a faint "goodnight".

She awoke slowly, her body aching from the hard bed. It wasn't quite dawn yet, she still had time to fall back asleep. At least she was warm. The end of her nose was cold but she had the blanket pulled up snug under her chin. It was only then that she realized that all the warmth wasn't due to the blanket. It was coming from Jon lying against her back, spooning her with his arm thrown over her. She stopped breathing momentarily, afraid to move. While on the one hand it was strange to be lying in bed with her captain, she had known Jon for more years then she cared to remember. But then again he was her captain and he had never shown her anything other then friendship. However, it was cold and he did unconsciously what everybody does in sleep, look for warmth. And it wasn't unpleasant being held. In fact, it had been a very long time since anyone had held her like this and she rather liked it. Deciding her best course of action was just to go back to sleep that is exactly what she did, with a small content smile on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

By the time she awoke again she was alone in bed. She could hear the shower running in the refresher. She assumed it was Jon as she was not only alone in bed but also in the room. She arose, straightened the bed, collected her uniform and personal items, and called for breakfast. The Binare that answered her query informed her that their needs would be met within a standard half hour. They were certainly odd little creatures.

The average binare was approximately 4' high, bald, paled skinned, large eyed, and keyed up. While they came in both male and female, Hoshi did not want to contemplate how they reproduced and bore young. The Binares were as much like a walking computer as you could get and still be organically alive. Humans had made great strides into robotics and what was produced was getting closer and closer to human then she ever thought possible. But the Binaries, while completely organic, were more like the robots or androids that humans were starting to produce. Hearing the shower cut off and Jon whistling made her stop her train of thought and wait nervously for her turn in the refresher. _"It's not as if we were doing anything or if Starfleet could disapprove. We are here on their orders and if we don't make an effort to get along with the Binares and their customs we could very well have this whole affair fall through…"_ she pondered as the door opened and Jon came out of the refresher.

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He had awoken quickly as was his habit but didn't move until he remembered where he was and what was going on around him. It took him a long moment to realize that Hoshi was in bed with him and that he had himself wrapped around her. Fortunately for both of them she was still asleep otherwise the situation would have been rather embarrassing. _"She called you 'old' last night and she treats you like she treats her older brother Yoshi. Get over yourself and get out of bed before she wakes up and realizes what's poking her in the back."_ he thought. Slightly reluctant he disentangled his arms and rolled gently out of bed. He grabbed his gear and headed straight for the refresher. He could hear Trip and T'Pol talking quietly on the other side of the adjoining room. As he showered he pondered the issues ahead of him today with the Binare delegation. He figured how he would approach the various issues and deal with them. His mind, however, kept wandering back to how good Hoshi had felt curled up in his arms this morning and how he hadn't wanted to get up and deal with his day. It unnerved him slightly and he brushed the thoughts away. As he finished his shower he wondered what the Binares would serve for breakfast and was glad that it was on it's way.

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Hoshi continued to work her way through piles of translations. Jon sat across the room speaking quietly but animatedly about some point in the protection agreement. He really didn't need her here but she felt better if she were in the room. She had tried to work quietly next door on her translations but something hadn't felt right. So she resigned herself to having her train of thought interrupted now and again then work in a separate room. In order for the agreement to take place not only did Jon need to work out all the bumps but Hoshi had to have a document put together in English for those at Starfleet explaining how the Binare culture worked and why. They did not want to enter into an agreement with someone who's ideas were completely opposite of their own. And what better way to find this out but to go through their cultural documents with a fine toothed comb. That left it up to Hoshi and not the UT. No mistakes could be made here. Sighing, she went back to her work.

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Jon was keenly aware of where Hoshi was at all time during today. Because he and the Bridge Crew worked so closely together he was usually tuned into them but this was something more. It was as if all his nerve endings were on fire when Hoshi was in the room today and when she had left briefly to work somewhere else he felt… odd, was the only way to describe it. Jon didn't like it when things were out of the realm of explanation. He liked things cut and dried. Mentally shaking himself out of his musings he went back to discussing the finer points of Starfleet to the Binare pair Vader.

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That evening they were able to wrap things up early so that the four of them could have dinner together. The Binares being what they were, there was no option in going "out on the town" and experiencing the local culture. There was none. So they ate in a room set aside for them near their rest chambers. Food had been provided them but it was fairly unpalatable so they had sent for stores from Enterprise. Fortunately, the Binare were too logical to take offense at this so they could eat something tasty without offending their hosts.

Jon noticed that Trip and T'Pol were in better spirits then they had been last evening, or indeed, a long time. They had explained how they were catching up on the learning curve with the Binare technology and had brought Jon and Hoshi up to date on the proposed improvements and their implementation. It was going to be approximately a week for all the enhancements to be made. But it was more then that. Jon had known Trip a long time and there was something more relaxed about him. He hadn't seen him this relaxed since before the death of his sister. T'Pol seemed more relaxed also. Relaxed, at least, for a Vulcan.

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"Did you notice something odd about T'Pol tonight?" Hoshi asked Jon as they came into their rest chamber. "Yes, something seemed different but not off though" replied Jon.

"She was sitting next to Trip and looked for all the world as if she were engrossed in her soup. But you could tell that she was completely tuned into him… hmm… I guess it was a good thing you did by giving them a room together instead of having T'Pol and I bunk together. Although the Binares would not have had an easy time making that set up compute." Jon merely nodded in response to her statement and headed off to the refresher to change for bed. _"Speaking of off…"_ Hoshi pondered Jon as she watched his retreating back.

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When she came out of the refresher the room was dark and Jon appeared to be asleep already. She could tell that he had been tired all day. Something about him had been different and she was hard pressed to put her finger on what exactly that was. Climbing into bed gently so as not to disturb him she put her back to him. She tried to empty her mind and drift off to sleep. But thoughts of Jon and all their times together on Earth before Enterprise kept filling her mind. _"Now where did those come from…"_ she sleepily wondered before falling off to sleep.

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Jon dreamed of Hoshi that night. He dreamed of the day they had met, when Yoshi, Hoshi's older brother, introduced him. Jon had been standing in for a friend who taught at Starfleet while he went on leave to be with a sick relative. Yoshi was one of Jon's more promising students and they had taken a liking to each other from the start. Yoshi knew that Jon didn't have family in San Francisco and so invited him to come home with him for dinner one evening. When he was introduced to Hoshi he had felt something within him stir but hoped he covered it well. She was Yoshi's younger sister and Yoshi himself was a good 10 years younger then he was. He dreamt of every moment of that meal from the edamame that they started with to the bitter coffee they had after dessert. He dreamt of every shy smile she had sent his way and every time she laughed over one of his jokes. When he awoke he felt refreshed and buoyant until he realized that he was once again wrapped around Hoshi. The room was cool, but not cold enough to send him searching in his sleep for a heat source. Checking to see that she was still asleep he allowed himself a few guilty moments of holding her before gently disentangling himself from her. She smelled of verbena, tangy and citrus. He sighed. _"You can't be doing this. She may be your friend but she's also Yoshi's sister and Yoshi made me promise to watch out for her… not… not… do this. Besides, Starfleet would frown if they knew."_ He sighed again as he pondered Starfleet's lack of foresight in sending crews off for years on end with fraternization rules as they were. _"At least Trip and T'Pol are happy and Starfleet is looking the other way. Perhaps because she is Vulcan…perhaps of all that has happened to them."_ He headed off to the shower in the hopes that some cold water would bring some clarity to his day.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day passed without incident. All the Starfleet personnel made great strides in their given tasks. Jon was able to hammer out some of the finer points of the protection agreement. Trip and T'Pol finished reviewing the enhancements and finalized the installation process to begin in two days time. Hoshi completed her overview of the Binare society and culture, double checked her translations, and sent it off to Starfleet for review.

They were all able to wrap up their respective tasks early in the day again. Taking some time before dinner John and Hoshi walked the grounds of the Binare government complex. Their world was beautiful, but the Binares did not seem to appreciate it. There were no benches, no fountains, no ornamental gardens anywhere around the complex like you would have seen on other worlds. While the Binares had made great strides in preserving their world they had done nothing to enhance it, as other races would have done.

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Once again, dinner was a fairly quiet affair. They had gathered and shared the progress that had been made that day. Trip was downright excited about the coming improvements to his engines and T'Pol actually seemed to share in his excitement. They were also pleased to be heading back to the Enterprise tomorrow morning with several Binare pairs to begin work. John and Hoshi had one more day of negotiations before everything was finalized. They weren't looking forward to spending two more nights on on Binare. The beds were horrible!

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That night John dropped off as quickly as Hoshi had, but almost immediately his sleep became restless. He started to dream of the Enterprise and the Expanse. He wasn't himself in the dream but Hoshi. _How odd… how can she stand being so short!_ he pondered. He dreamt of being kidnapped by the Xindi and by the time he dreamt of the torture she had received at their hands he was tossing and turning in his sleep. John came awake with a sudden jolt, sitting bolt upright in bed. His racing heart started to slow as his eyes adjusted to the dim room. Hearing a moan he turned and saw Hoshi huddled in the corner of the bedroom, curled into a fetal position, rocking back and forth. _How'd she get there?_ he wondered. Jumping from the bed, he approached her, softly calling her name. Hoshi kept moaning softly and muttering. When she didn't respond he reached out and gently touched her shoulder. Hoshi jerked in her sleep, curling tighter but not awakening. _She's ice cold_, he thought. Scooping her up in his arms he carried her back to the bed. Tucking her in, he climbed in beside her and pulled her to him. He wrapped himself around her in an effort to warm her and sooth whatever nightmares were bothering her. _Maybe I should try and wake her again…_ Hoshi finally started to settle down, her breathing once again become deep and even. Wondering what demons were haunting her John finally drifted back to sleep.

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Hoshi came awake slowly, her mouth felt dry, her eyes gritty. John, feeling Hoshi stir, came awake himself, his arms tightening around her. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly. "mmm…I don't feel well… I didn't sleep… why are you… ughhh… I think I dreamt last night." Hoshi muttered. Feeling Hoshi start to pull away John let her go and explained how he had found her in the middle of the night. "You were ice cold… I wanted to warm you back up… I'm sorry… I hope you're not… upset?"

"No, I just feel odd, I'll be fine after a shower and some breakfast. That'll clear the cobwebs out of my mind." Hoshi replied, as she rose out of bed and went for her duffel bag.

"Can I ask? What were you dreaming about?" John asked her, as he too started to ready for their day. Hoshi heaved a sigh and replied, almost too quietly to hear, "The Xindi again, the time they captured me. Those dreams are always about the Xindi."

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It was hard for John to concentrate and finish what needed to be completed. His mind was on Hoshi and what had happened last night. _Was it just a coincidence?_ he wondered time and again throughout the day. Despite his wandering mind, all the loose ends were finally wrapped up. Hoshi had made sure the translations were perfect and Starfleet had been sent the final agreement for their perusal. Despite the inconvenience, John made the decision that another shuttle should come down for him and Hoshi immediately. They needed some decent sleep and they weren't getting it on Binare. Their hosts were neither happy nor unhappy to see them leave early, which was fortunate, as John was pretty sure he wouldn't sleep tonight unless he was in his own bed.

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Back on board the Enterprise John sent Hoshi straight to her quarters telling her she had the next 24 hours off. He expected her to catch up on her rest so she should not be doing any work, even from her cabin. Saying goodnight, Hoshi turned and left. Watching her walk off he mused, _Just one more thing, _and he walked off in the opposite direction. He had to check on the improvements before he could find his bed for the night. Tracking down Trip in Engineering he was surprised to find T'Pol with him, her hand on his shoulder, as she looked with him at what the Binare teams were doing. More surprised at where her hand was then finding her up in the wee hours before her shift started he schooled his expression. "T'Pol, aren't you on duty for Alpha shift? I thought you'd be asleep."

Turning from her work, she replied with her usual calm "I could not sleep Captain. In any case, it is appropriate for me to assist in these operations." A bang, some sparks, and a squeal came from the direction of the Binare pair near the warp engines. Trip hurried off to deal with whatever relay wasn't working properly. But not before he looked at T'Pol, raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes in a wordless gesture, which she returned. _They're certainly acting odd_ he pondered. Mentally shaking himself John told T'Pol to alert him if there were any more problems and left to find his quarters. He paced down the corridors feeling agitated and out of sorts. Back in his cabin John tried to play with Porthos, who had been neglected for almost a week, but couldn't focus. Feeling even more strange and restless he finally turned out the lights and tried to sleep.

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Hoshi's sleep was troubled and restless. She would drift off to sleep and then start awake again. Blearily looking at the clock she realized it was 0300. Sighing, she got out of bed, wrapped her robe around her, and slipped on her bunny slippers. She hoped that she wouldn't be disturbing Phlox but she needed something to get to sleep. As she stumbled down the corridors to the Infirmary she pondered how nice it would be to hibernate for a week like the Denobulans did. Finally making it to the Infirmary, in her stupor, she ran into the door frame. Stumbling into the room she knocked into a cage, almost tipping it over. Phlox came from around the corner partition to see what was the matter. Seeing Hoshi is her bedraggled and semi conscience state he hurried to her side and helped her to one of the bio beds. "What seems to be the problem Hoshi?" Phlox cheerfully said as he finished getting her to the bed.

"I'm so tired but I can't seem to sleep. I just don't feel… well." She muttered as she laid back. Phlox replied, "Well, let's see what we can do about this.", and he pulled out a scanner. As he read the results starting to come in his characteristic grin started to fade into a frown of concern. Glancing at Hoshi but seeing her eyes closed he forced a cheerful voice and started to prattle on in a way he knew put patients at ease. There was no need to upset her with the results of the scan, especially when he himself didn't understand them fully or what was causing them. "I'm going to give you a mild sedative to help you sleep tonight and since you're already here I'd like you to stay. I don't want you falling asleep in the middle of the corridor!" he went on.

Hoshi smiled faintly in reply but didn't open her eyes "Just so long as I can sleep." She murmured. Phlox injected a sedative into her arm, waited, 30 seconds, and injected a second dose. He didn't like to give someone as small as Hoshi a double dose but he needed to make sure that she stayed asleep for at least the next 10 hours. Something was definitely wrong and he needed time to run his tests fully without her waking. And quite frankly, the scans did show that she desperately needed to sleep. 10 hours would be good for her.

As Hoshi's breath began to even out he made sure that she was asleep before strapping her to the biobed. He removed her bunny slippers, covered her with a blanket, and set to work. There was no use in bothering the Captain at this hour. First he needed to come to some conclusions. There would be time to worry Captain Archer in the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry it's been so long. Life has a way of catching up on you!

As always, I don't own them. If they were mine they would be so much happier!

Chapter 4

After hours of scans and tests Dr. Phlox was finally ready to report his findings to Captain Archer. He was still no closer to finding a cause to the aberrant readings he was finding but he was optimistic, as always, that he could figure out the cause with time. The trick was to keep Hoshi stable until such time. Knowing that the Captain would be in the middle of his breakfast Phlox decided to go to him rather then have him come to the infirmary. Checking to make sure that Ensign Cutler was on hand he took his padd and left.

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Phlox was more then a little taken aback at the Captain's response and his appearance. He was pasty looking, bags under his eyes, and restless. While he showed every evidence of having a hearty appetite, humans never ate when ill it seemed, he never the less looked like he too needed to be seen. While the Captain listened politely to what Phlox had to say it didn't seem as if his words had actually been listened to. The Captain mumbled on about calling him if there were any new developments and dismissed him. Now Phlox had two members of the recent away team to Binare that were acting strangely. Walking back to the Infirmary Phlox decided to call Commander Tucker and Sub Commander T'Pol to give them a quick scan to see if they, also, had something wrong. Perhaps there was something he had missed in his initial study of the planet Binare. However, his scans had been thorough. Binare was harmless. But if not Binare, then what was causing Hoshi's strange brain activity and now the Captain's strange appearance and behavior?

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"Thank you for coming in Commanders." Said Phlox with relief as both Trip and T'Pol entered the Infirmary a short time later. "I realize that I am taking you away from the installation going on in Engineering so I'll be brief." He pulled out a scanner and waved them towards an empty bio bed.

"Sure thing Doc. But what's the problem?" replied Trip

Continuing with his scans he replied, "It seems that both Ensign Sato and the Captain are unwell. Seeing that they were both down on Binare for several days I want to rule out the planet as the cause. That's why I'd like to run some scans on the both of you. Although you both appear perfectly healthy to me." Finishing with his scans Phlox studied the readings for a moment before frowning. "Actually, you both seem to be in perfect health and your neurological scans are practically 'glowing'. You both must have had a great night's rest considering how well your brains seem to be functioning." Trip replied, "Actually Doc, neither of us went to bed last night. I'm a bit beat, and I think I can speak for T'Pol, but I feel like I could go through the rest of my shift without a problem." Glancing over at T'Pol Phlox saw her nod in agreement. "Yes, I feel quite energized. But if you do not require our assistance any longer then we should return to Engineering. The Binare are careful beings but Commander Tucker's engines are…"

Trip picked up her sentence, "… gerry rigged in spots and I never made notes of the changes on the schematics they are using. So we'd like to get back before they run amok." Nodding to Phlox they left, in step, together. Once more Phlox frowned, something was off, but he couldn't quite place what. Turning to his desk he was determined to go over the three scans to see what he could find. "Perhaps I should call the Captain and take a reading from him." He mused.

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On his way to the Captain's Ready Room Phlox pondered all he had learned so far. Hoshi was not sleeping unless sedated. Her brain scan showed that while she was asleep she wasn't dreaming so she wasn't actually resting. Her body was just dormant. Now on the other hand, Commander Tucker and Sub Commander T'Pol were the picture of health. However, they're scans showed some interesting anomalies. The biggest was that they're scans were practically identical. That never happened in Denobulans, even twins, and he was pretty sure Humans and Vulcans were the same way. He had checked all the padds in the Infirmary after that and they were all fine and working correctly. Plus they were acting… well, just odd. They rarely got along as well as they had been since being back on board and they had finished each other's sentences while he had been scanning them. Sighing, he drew his thoughts towards the Captain. Hopefully Captain Archer could spare him some time to perform the scan. When he had called and asked the Captain to come down the Captain had been even more irritable and distracted then before. Coming up to the Ready Room doors he buzzed to be let in.

"Enter" Well_ at least he still sounds well_, thought Phlox as he fixed on his smile and entered through the door.

After finding the Captain slumped back in his chair when he entered the Ready Room Phlox wasted no time in ordering the Captain to Sick Bay. As they were preparing to leave Commander Tucker and Sub Commander T'Pol came in.

"Trip" the Captain croaked, "I'm not feeling well and Phlox wants me to go down to Sick Bay for…" "A WHILE" Phlox cut in, and then continued on "Something is not right with him and Hoshi isn't well either. I'd like to get to the bottom of this before whatever is affecting them becomes a problem for the whole ship. Although I can't see how as you all went through Decon when you returned from Binare." Ushering the Captain out Phlox left them to the running of the ship.

Walking into the Infirmary with the Captain Phlox was unprepared for the wild beeping that started just moments after they came in. Handing the Captain off to Ensign Cutter Phlox hurried over to Hoshi's bed and checked the various readings. Her brain waves were doing things that they shouldn't be doing when she was this heavily sedated. It was almost as if her brain was awake suddenly but her body was definitely still out.

Finding the Captain behind him suddenly Phlox turned to see the Captain leaning over the biobed looking into Hoshi's face. "Is she any better?" he demanded.

"Honestly, I'm not sure at this time, but I am going to get to the bottom of this. Now let's get you settled over here so I can get started. I don't want to disturb Ensign Sato any more then I have to." Phlox turned and indicated the farthest bed across the room.

Captain Archer refused to move, his face still turned towards Hoshi. "No, this one is fine. I… I need… I mean, I'd like to stay here and keep an eye on Hoshi."

Sighing, but acquiescing, Phlox got him settled and started his scans. After several minutes he came back to look at the readings. _This is odd_ he mused. The Captain's scans showed him drifting off to sleep and going directly into a REM state. _That's not normal _he thought. Letting the scan continue to run he left the Captain and turned to Hoshi's scanner, which had been running continuously since she had arrived last night. "Now this is VERY odd indeed!" He exclaimed quietly to himself. After more then 10 hours in a dormant state with no REM readings, then showing all the appearances of coming awake without the body awakening, now Hoshi's brain was finally in a REM state. Glancing back at the Captain's bed he noticed that the Captain's face was returning to normal. No bags under the eyes and his skin looked more flushed then pale. Hoshi, too, looked better then when she came in. Phlox was confused but there was the inkling of an idea forming. Checking on them one last time he turned and left to make some notes and do some covert research. If what he was thinking was even close to being true then Star Fleet needed to be notified before any more dealings with the Binares could take place.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: sorry that I've taken so long to get this up. Life has a way of catching up with you! As always, they're not mine, they'd be happier if they were! Enjoy!

Chapter 5

Phlox had spent several hours silently stalking the Binare pairs as they worked in Engineering and throughout the rest of the ship. He had made extensive scans of them in their physiology and numerous notes on his padd about their behavior. While it was bad form to do all of this covertly he saw no other way to obtain the information he was looking for. He walked back to the Infirmary eager to get back to his computer to start sifting through the information. He planned to ask Sub Commander T'Pol to make several in-depth scans of Binare and it's system to see if there was anything was missed in the initial scans of the area.

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After two solid days of work Phlox was finally starting to unravel the "Why" of the problem at hand. He had been continuing on with his scans of both Hoshi and the captain during this time of research and was continually astounded by what he had been seeing. While Hoshi had been sedated the captain never roused. The few times he had been late in giving Hoshi her next dose of sedatives and she had started to awaken so did the captain. It wasn't natural for a human to sleep for two solid days even when extremely tired. Yet the captain had done just that except for those few instances that happened to correspond to Hoshi's awakenings.

Then there were the scans of the Binare system and the planet itself. He had asked Sub Commander T'Pol to perform every scan that he could conceive of and she had willingly done so once he had explained why he wanted them. She was not happy to be away from Engineering however and had transferred the job to Travis. Once the scan results started coming in Phlox was overwhelmed with the amount of raw data but resolutely started to wade through it all. He tried to piece together how any of this might be affecting the captain and Hoshi.

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The planet had an unusually strong magnetic field for starters. While it was not strong enough to harm humans it was definitely different then what they were accustomed to on Earth or on-board their shielded ships. Magnets could both heal and harm humans with their physiology being the way it was. Having iron rich blood and being made of around sixty percent water, magnets had a strong pull on them physically and mentally. After seeing the strength of the Binare magnetic field he made scans of all four of the Away Team members. Specifically, to see if there was any increase in blood flow to the brain and if so, where. After his scans and comparing the four of them he found that all three of the humans had an increase of blood flow in parts of the right hemisphere and in the mid-brain connection. What was also odd was that although T'Pol's blood was copper based she too was affected in the same portions of the brain. While Vulcans do have more blood flow in those areas due to their inherent, although in some cases latent, physic abilities there was an increase above the norm in T'Pol. Copper is not usually affected by magnetism unless it was extremely strong or alloyed with iron or nickel. Somehow the magnetic field of the planet was causing a change in blood flow of the brain. But what did any of that mean? What does any of that prove? All four members of the Away Team were acting odd but what was causing the strange brain wave patterns. An increase in blood flow might make them more alert, more energetic, perhaps even bring on psychic abilities but causing two people to have brain waves that were in synch? What could cause that? What could possibly be causing that in Trip and T'Pol? They weren't even of the same species. Phlox was flummoxed.

XXXXXX

After taking some time away from his studies and getting some dinner in him Phlox was ready to resume his baffling task at hand. What was causing the sync in brain wave patterns in the captain and Hoshi and then again in Trip and T'Pol? The multitude of scans that he had had run to study the planet and the system showed only two things that were odd enough to even be considered factors in this mystery; the increased magnetic field in the planet and the amount of space noise that seemed to be in the system. Space noise wasn't really "noise" as sound waves can't travel in a vacuum but was actually radio waves. How could radio waves be affecting his patients? Obviously very strong radio waves would be cooking everything in the vicinity but these weren't very strong. They were actually quite weak; they were only varying from one to twenty Hz. They also were pulsating in a pattern. Unfortunately Phlox wasn't as attuned to working with patterns as Hoshi was and he wasn't waking her to ask her if the pulsating waves were really some form of communication. So he was forced to delve into the ship's database and see what he could find. After some research into some older medical texts from Starfleet he found that low end radio waves such as he was finding had been reputed, but never proved, to affect the mental processes of humans. Could it possibly be rewiring the brain in some way to cause this change in brain wave patterns? How could it possibly be rewiring two brains to be identical and why not have all four of them the same. Why were the captain and Hoshi paired together and Trip and T'Pol paired?

XXXXXX

Phlox sighed heavily leaning back from his station. He rubbed his eyes wearily. He was no closer to having any conclusive cause of the aberrations he was seeing. He had some very interesting pieces but he couldn't puzzle how they all went together to form a cohesive whole. He supposed there was nothing for it but to request time with one of the Binare pairs and see if he could tactfully ask them if they had any ideas as to what the problem was. Although he didn't hold out much hope of gaining any answers. His covert scans of the Binares indicated that while there was some similarities biologically that they were different enough that he couldn't draw any conclusions. He did note however that they behaved in a very similar way to the way Commanders Tucker and T'Pol were behaving with each other. Once Phlox ran the speech samples he had recorded from them through the UT he realized that the Binare pairs he observed would often communicate with each other finishing the other's sentences as the commanders had. They were also completely physically in tune with each other, perfectly aware of where the other partner was and handing them the correct tools when needed, with out being asked, and without even looking at each other. In addition, they didn't seem to require much sleep. In the last two days he only noted about ten hours worth of down time for them. To quote an old Earth book that Hoshi had lent him "_Curiouser and curiouser," _he thought to himself and started to place the request through to the Commanders to get some time with the Binares.

XXXXXXX

Much later Phlox headed back to the Infirmary. He had been granted time with the older of the Binare pairs on board and was just finished talking with them. They had been difficult to communicate with but Hoshi had done enough with the UT before she had returned to the ship so that after some adjustments they were able to talk back and forth with relative ease. He spent lots of time learning about their lives as young and how they bonded as pairs. He was fortunate that he had spoken to the older of the pairs on board. They had been fully versed in the history of their people. Apparently while all information was available to all Binares not all Binares were interested enough to access it and the younger generations were increasingly unaware of their own development as a species.

Many millennia ago before their computer enhancements were developed Binares were still paired off at birth and always as a mated pair. Occasionally, a Binare was born that was physically deformed in the brain and incapable of the mental bonding that occurred. They never lived past the first year of life. They seemed incapable, as a species, of being alone within themselves. They had also learned through trial and error over time that the bonding happened shortly after birth and with the one physically closest to them. If bonding occurred with one of the same gender the pair could still function but it did not do so at the same level of efficiency as a dual gender pair nor could they ever reproduce with others outside of that pairing. Inefficiency was abhorrent to them and not maximizing the potential production of more Binares was bad for the continuation of the species. This caused the formation of how they bonded pairs in subsequent centuries.

What had baffled the Binare for millennia was why they bonded. Before they became the technological wonders that they were today they had believed it was the way their god had designed them. They did not know then but had learned over the millennia that the conditions in their solar system and on their planet enabled their race to bond in such a way that made them able to communicate telepathically with the one they were bonded to. He had learned that the computer enhancements that enabled them to communicate with each other and the rest of the Binare race was just that. Enhancements. These later technological enhancements enabled them to not only tap into a main database and communicate with it and with other bonded pairs but also speed up and make more accurate the communication each pair had with each other.

While this was all fascinating to Phlox he was still somewhat stymied as to how it all applied to his crewmates. After hearing all that the Binare had to say about their history as a species and the bonding process he related to them what he was facing with the Away Team and their conditions. The Binare had never heard of this happening to any of the other species that had ever visited their planet in the past. Granted they did not have many visitors but it had never happened before. The only species that had visited their planet had been from fairly close by systems. Perhaps they were immune? He gained their permission to take biological samples from them and detailed physiological scans to compare against those of the crew. The Binare were obviously somewhat similar in that they were bipedal and had a similar physical look to them of two eyes, two ears, etc. but on the inside they were quite different. The Binare had a neodymium-based blood to start with. Not being overly conversant with magnetic materials Phlox learned that this was one of the most magnetic substances known at this point in time. The Binare also had only one lobed brain and that it was almost twice as large as both lobes combined in a human, or a Vulcan, or even a Denobulan! Their brain also had many times more folds; so more connections could be formed. Perhaps this was where they got their incredible intelligence and their inherent psychic ability. There were also a number of other differences with internal organs and reproduction but he didn't think that they had bearing on what was going on with the issue at hand.

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As Phlox finally sat back down at his workstation and started to make correlations between the Binare and his patients he wondered how much, if any of this, had any bearing. While there were similarities in biology could the weaker magnetism in the iron-based blood of humans, or the very weak magnetism in the copper based blood of Vulcans be enough to cause the same bonding phenomenon in his crewmates. Could the addition of the low level pulsating radio waves in combination to the planet's strong magnetic presence have been enough to cause the same transformation in other species, as it seemed to in the Binares? If so, did one need to be on the planet for this to take place or could this be starting to happen on board the Enterprise right now? Another thing was that if this was so, could the condition be reversed or would it eventually fade as they left the system? If not, how would his crewmates handle the situation? He had learned that a bonded pair of Binare could be apart for short amounts of time but they became physically uncomfortable the longer they were apart. They also did not survive long when one of the pair died. If this ended up being irreversible he thought that while the commanders may not mind the situation as he was aware of their covert yet longstanding relationship he was unsure of the reactions of Hoshi or Captain Archer to their apparent accidental bonding. Last, but not least, what was Starfleet going to do with this if this condition was irreversible? Leaning back, he stretched, sighed deeply and stood up. Only time would tell if all of his conclusions were indeed true or if he had just spent the last several days in fruitless pursuits. Only time would tell what would happen with his friends and crewmates. There was nothing left to do but wake the captain and Hoshi and see what happened next.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

He was dreaming of that night again_. The night he met her. She was so vibrant, so compelling, so everything… he knew he must have a stupid, a foolish, look on his face. He tried to keep himself distant, composed. Their hands touched briefly as she passed him a plate of something… he had felt the physical shock, had seen her eyes widen, she must have felt it too..._ He tensed and shifted in his sleep.

She dreamt of the first time they met._ Why did he have to be so old? She was blushing at the thoughts that were racing through her mind. She saw her mother looking at her from across the table, frowning slightly. She quickly lowered her eyes back to her dinner plate and kept them there till he told a joke. She looked up and laughed, forgetting herself. Helping her mother clear the table while the men were out admiring the garden she saw her mother give her a strange look…_Her brows knit together; she moaned slightly in her sleep.

There were other nights, other dinners he dreamt of, all centered on her…_ her growing talent, her beauty, and her wit. She never spared him from her wit despite her mother's scolding to be more gracious. He was thrilled that she felt so comfortable with him that she would verbally spar. Only once he remembered seeing her mother frown… the next time he was invited in for dinner she was gone, just gone… he was so distressed and tried so very hard not to show it… Her mother insisted she go off to a private estate of friends in Japan… to study with a language sensei… they were vague as to how long she'd be gone…waves of disappointment rolled over him._ He groaned in his sleep and they looked up, watching.

She dreamt of the time she was sent away…_ She was so MAD! She had wanted to scream at her mother. Why had father let her do this! How could he agree! She was fine studying there at the university in San Francisco. She even had a few friends her own age! Granted they weren't even in the university, no one her age was at the university BUT her… they were just entering high school… but at least they were willing to talk with her about girl things, about boys, not that she'd ever mention __**him**__ to them, they'd think she was weird, he was so old! But sometimes the constant language studies were overwhelming and it was nice to have friends. She loved to think about him… to see him when he came over with her brother… now she was in Okinawa… she'd be seeing no one but Sensei for a very long time to come… she was miserable!_ The monitor showed an increase in heart rate. Tears seeped out from underneath her closed eyelids and they gently wiped them away, worrying.

He dreamt on… he dreamt of the years she was away…. _He had never encountered anyone like her in the time she had been gone. His friends tried repeatedly to set him up with women… none of them fit… He wanted her, and then felt guilt over it. He despised himself over some of the thoughts he had about her… She was NOT an appropriate option for someone of his age… yet he couldn't seem to help himself…. He was thankful that her brother never realized… he didn't want to lose that friendship… but he suspected that her mother knew… why would she send her off like that… and while she was civil and respectful she was not warm to him. _His fists were clenched, the monitor showing an increase in heart rate, and they looked on in concern.

The dream changed, she was an adult finally…. _When she had been tapped by Starfleet she was so excited, so elated, to have some contact with him again. Mother was ever watchful, ever vigilant though…her mother had pushed for the posting in Brazil… she knew her mother wanted her away from San Francisco, away from Starfleet…Mother had controlled it all but now she was on her own… an adult… she knew her mother still kept tabs on her…her mother had stressed again and again how awful space was…She didn't want to be there… in the dark… in the cold… in the void…Maybe Mother was right. Teaching in Brazil was nice, warm, happy, she had friends again…But then they sent him to talk to her. It only took one look at him… he touched her hand as he gave her the recording… she felt that same shock like that first time so long ago. _She sighed, her heart rate slowing back down. They relaxed.

He was dreaming of before that first mission, so long ago… _When Starfleet had sent him the short list of linguists they wanted on the Klingon mission he was beyond elation that her name was at the top of the list. The others had all accepted the position but none of them were her. That she was head and shoulders above the rest of them didn't matter to him. He only wanted her. Then she would be beside him... She had only grown in her talents over the course of the last few years. Apparently she had brushed off all attempts Starfleet had made… should he talk to her himself… would she even remember him… he was nervous going to Brazil… how old was she now… he tried to do the calculations in his head but couldn't even form a coherent thought… he wiped his sweating palms on his slacks…_ His broke out in a cold sweat, shivering, they wiped his brow and covered him, watching.

The dreams went on and on. _She remembered all the images from her past, all the emotions… but some of them seemed strange. Some images were not her past. Some feelings were not her own… she felt excitement that wasn't hers when she dreamt of stepping on board the Enterprise for the first time… and she was taller for some reason…she felt overwhelming lust… desire… when she was at work on the bridge, but she wasn't sitting in her usual chair. She felt guilty relief after working hard with the weights in the gym… she didn't use weights… whose feelings, who's dreams were these? She felt relief… remorse… guilt… as she saw her broken body lying in Sick Bay with the scars of the Xindi on her body… _ she moaned and tried to shift in her sleep. They slackened and released the bands holding her to the bed. Watching, waiting.

He felt… he felt… what. He wasn't sure. His dreams were strange, not his…. _He felt warmth, devotion, confusion, anger? He saw T'Pol standing next to himself on the bridge but he wasn't himself. He was someone else. Why was he angry about T'Pol and why was he so short and why was he not in his chair? He felt that the anger went on and on… he was hitting the punching bag in the gym, again and again… the anger kept burning as he thought of T'Pol standing next to him, the captain… he didn't use the bag… he liked the weights. What was this? Where was this coming from? He dreamt of Elizabeth, her death, of Trip and T'Pol… sorrow over her death but infinite relief over their finally cemented relationship… he was filling out a condolence card to send to them… sitting at a desk… it wasn't his, it wasn't his cabin…he could see his feet were propped up… those weren't his feet… he didn't own bunny slippers._ His heart rate increased even more. Alarms went off.

The dreams became fragmented, almost as if they had been thrown in a mixer and were then being shown on a movie screen too fast…. _Stolen looks, accidental touches of hand, moments of camaraderie, playing with Porthos with her/him there in the room, jealousies over others coming into his/her/their relationship, relief over safe returns on missions, anger at Starfleet regulations keeping him/her from the one they love, waves of feelings… desire, angst, compassion, anger, friendship, confusion, love, regret, resignation, yearning that never ceases…_ Beeping and alarms went off again in Sick Bay. Phlox studied the readings. "They're finally starting to come around!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Hoshi's body felt too heavy to move, so…. she didn't. Her eyelids felt too sticky to open, so…. she didn't. Her brain felt too fuzzy to think, so…. she didn't. She just lay there, breathing evenly, listening to the sounds around her. She tried to make sense of what she was hearing, of what she was feeling.

She heard a deep male voice, she thought she recognized it "I don't understand! Why isn't she awake yet? Phlox, what's wrong with her? What's wrong with me? I don't feel right." He sounded worried, stressed, almost angry. Another male voice, slightly higher, cut in soothingly "She'll wake up when she is ready Captain. I've kept her sedated for over two days. It will take some time for the drugs to leave her system. Just give it time." She heard some movement and then the same soothing voice "I've already explained to you what has happened on the planet and what it will probably mean for you, for both of you. We won't know for certain the extent of the…er… condition until she is awake." The deeper voice started again "But there doesn't seem to be a problem with T'Pol and Trip…" _T'Pol and Trip… do I know them? I think I should… _

A different voice spoke, female, very calm "As we have already explained to you the Commander and I have not suffered any ill effects from this as we have already been bonded for some time. We had been doing meditation together, growing closer, for almost a year before Elizabeth…" the voice paused, she had heard a different tone creep in, almost sad "…and then we realized that we were truly bonded. Bonding for Vulcans is very private… We never made mention of it for fear of repercussions." Her voice seemed to steady. " Once we left the planet we never realized that we had become even closer until the Doctor confirmed it with his scans. It is possible that my telepathic abilities have made this transition easier for us. In any event, it will not be a burden for us nor will it impede our performances on the ship."

_What is this… bonding… transition?_ She sighed mentally, pondered drifting back into oblivion, when she heard a door whoosh open and decided to listen in for a moment more. A different, slightly higher male voice started speaking… _he sure sounds funny_. "Ah'm sorry. I tried to hurry so I wouldn't be away too long. There were a few things I had to deal with. Those Binares are into everything. Are you feeling ahlright?" The female voice spoke again "I assure you I was under no duress. I could sense you the entire time and was reassured." _Binares? Who's not feeling all right?_ _I'm not sure I'm feeling alright. My head hurts… it feels too full. _She inhaled deeply and wondered if she could manage to open her eyes.

"Ensign?" "Hoshi?" "Hosh?" She heard the voices, all talking at the same time. A cool hand was on her forehead, another hand on her arm…. "Excuse me, all of you, let me deal with my patient or I will have you all escorted from my Infirmary. When I check her vitals I promise you all that you will have a chance to speak with her when she is fully conscious." The soothing male voice sounded irritated. _But he never gets irritated… what's going on?_ She wondered fuzzily what all the fuss was about. She opened her eyes. The room was too bright. Faces were floating around her as her eyes ever so slowly focused. She saw a strange face above her. He was male with a too wide smile. It took her brain a moment to attach a name to him. _Phlox! Why am I in Sick Bay and why is he upset? _He was speaking "Ensign, can you sit up? How are you feeling? You may feel some disorientation as the sedatives wear off."

Hoshi took a moment to process what was being said to her as Phlox gently helped her into an upright position. Her head did feel woozy and she was still unsure of why she was here. She looked up at Phlox, a question on her face. "I'm not sure… I don't remember…." Hoshi trailed off as she caught sight of the others in the room. Her brain was slowly starting to come to life supplying her with names for the faces. _T'Pol… Trip…why are they here? _ Then she saw Him. He was sitting on the biobed next to hers. Her breath caught in her throat. Him. She remembered him. He was so very familiar yet his name hadn't surfaced in her consciousness yet. But she knew him… knew him like she knew her own primary language… backwards, forwards, and inside out. He looked up at her, their eyes met, he stared as he slowly got off his biobed and made his way to her. Slowly, very slowly, he reached for her face, his eyes never leaving hers. When his hand made contact with her cheek, cupping her face, she felt a physical shock. It was then that she remembered. She remembered everything. Then her world went black once more.

XXXXX

When Hoshi awoke for the second time it was not as difficult. Her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright with a sharp indrawn breath. The Infirmary was dim; there was no one there but herself, Dr. Phlox, and Jon. _JON!_ _Ah. Thank you…_ she said with an inward sigh. She could put a name to him. To the him that was so important to her. _Wait, why is he so important… why is he holding my hand?_ She was unsure of what to do, but she did not let go of him. Nor did he awake. Dr. Phlox was sitting across the room at his workstation, the glow of the computer screen lighting his features with a pale blue glow, making him seem even more alien then he already was. Jon was sitting in a chair beside her bio bed. His head was resting on the desk behind him, eyes closed, breathing even. His hand was wrapped around hers tightly even as he slept. The noise of her indrawn breath had caused Phlox to look up. He smiled and quietly came over to her. "Hoshi, I am glad to see you awake again. Are you feeling better this time? Are you in any pain?" He inquired softly.

"No, I feel fine. I feel better then fine. Just slightly confused. Why am I here? What is the captain doing here… um… why is he…" she felt awkward about asking why the captain was holding her hand, which she still had not let go of. Phlox sighed and replied "Well, Ensign, get comfortable, and let me start at the beginning." He brought a stool up to the bedside and sat down. Then he began.

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A half hour later Hoshi was still sitting in the biobed, her hand still wrapped around the captain's, and the captain still asleep where he sat. But she was no longer as confused. Phlox had started with their trip down to the planet Binare and gone from there filling in with speculation where he needed to. But, on the whole, he had a fairly complete picture to hand her. "I understand about what happened on the planet… but why is the captain still asleep? Why can't I remember all of this?" Hoshi asked quietly, still trying to absorb all that Phlox had told her. "Well, after you passed out Commander Tucker suggested that the Sub Commander perform a Vulcan technique on you both. She had done this with Commander Tucker shortly after the death of his sister when they first started to practice meditation together. It was a coping mechanism for him. On you she would help your brain block most of your memories until you were ready to sort them out, piece by piece, so as not to overwhelm and crash your system, so to speak. On the captain, she planted a very firm suggestion that he sleep and stay asleep until you were awake and capable of mentally dealing with everything that had happened to you both."

He paused, glanced over at the captain, and then continued, "I didn't think that we had anything to lose by trying this. I really didn't want to sedate you again. Sedation would have started to overtax your system, and we needed to see how much this situation affects you both. By the way you reacted when you first awoke… well, I will not venture a guess as to the extent of a situation we might have here. I will say that when you are ready you can awake the captain with the word Sub Commander T'Pol implanted in his subconscious. All you need to do is say the word, out loud, for those." He pointed to her bunny slippers still by her bedside several days later. He continued on "And then you two can find out together what has happened with you both." He smiled, stood up and patted her on the leg. "Now that you are awake and I have had a chance to see that you are fine I am going to go find something to eat. Perhaps Cook will have set something aside for me. I won't be back for at least the next hour or so. I will key the door for privacy on my way out." With that he smiled slightly, turned, and left.

Hoshi sat quietly for several moments. She stared at the hand she still held in her own, gently tracing over his knuckles with her free hand. His hand was so large in hers. His skin rough and cool. Swallowing, she looked slowly over into the captain's face. His face was relaxed in sleep. The dim lighting cast shadows over his chiseled face. Several days beard darkened his jaw. She pondered the emotions that were slowly welling up inside her, bubbling just under the surface. She slowly examined the memories that came with them, taking them out one by one and looking at them like old photographs from another lifetime. After a very long time, she looked once more at the hand she held in hers, sighed softly, and then quietly spoke two words.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Bunny slippers" she whispered. Hoshi sat and waited for Jon to awaken. She sat, still and quiet, watching his face, his hand still in hers. His eyelids twitched, he inhaled deeply, and started to stir. Hoshi was terrified. She knew everything now, her memories had come back one by one and she had examined them all. She knew that some of those memories were not hers, but his. If she had access to his memories then he must have had access to hers. _What must he think of me… what of his memories were real… were any of them merely dreams…_ She felt calmness, then contentment, then a wave of security washed over her… she knew that this was all from him, it wasn't her. She had been terrified, turbulent, and unsure. His hand tightened around hers as he started to sit up and stretch, his eyes coming slowly open.

Jon turned and looked at Hoshi sitting curled up on the biobed. He tightened his grip on her hand and slowly smiled at her. She looked terrified. _Does she hate me… she must know everything now… how can I make her understand…_ he felt terror coming off her in waves, she started to pull away but he refused to let go of her hand. He met her eyes, they were wide, dilated in fear, and his confidence started to slip. _All that I saw, all that I felt… was it real? I thought that she… I thought… I don't know what I thought._ "Hoshi?" he whispered. "Hoshi, talk to me." He reached with his free hand and tried to brush away the hair that had fallen in her face. She curled into an even tighter ball. His hand met her hair; he reveled in the feeling of its silkiness. Moving it aside his hand touched her cheek once more and cupped it. Her eyes snapped shut and he could feel her trembling. His heart was racing… he could still sense her terror, her confusion… he was confused himself, all the things he was feeling and thinking of… he had difficulty telling if they were his emotions or hers. At this point he really didn't care. All he did care about was her.

Coming to a decision in his mind he let go of Hoshi long enough to stride over to the comm panel. He punched it and spoke briefly to Trip. Going back over to Hoshi he gathered her up in his arms and stood in the middle of the Infirmary. Dazzling light shortly covered them and they were instantly in his cabin. He was glad of the strides Starfleet had continued to make in transporter technology over the years. He had felt safe in using it just now and had honestly thought of no other way to get Hoshi back to his cabin quickly and discreetly especially considering the condition she was in. Porthos looked up in surprise and ran over to greet his master, sniffing at Hoshi's bare toes. Unfortunately Jon had nothing to spare for his poor dog. Setting Hoshi down gently on the bed he dimmed the lights, pat Porthos once on the head, and climbed onto the bed behind Hoshi. He wrapped his arms around her and drew himself close to her. Her back pressed up against his chest. He could feel that she was still trembling occasionally. He pulled a folded blanket up over them and just held her for a long time. This was what he had wanted to do in Sick Bay but had known that it would have been impossible on the biobeds. They needed to be close, they needed to be alone, and they needed to talk.

He started to speak out loud, softly, into the quiet dimness of the cabin. He told her everything that he had felt, everything he had thought, everything that had happened to him since they went to the planet just a few short days ago. He told her how he had berated himself for his lack of control when he awoke and found himself wrapped around her every morning while they were planet-side. He told her how he had thought he was going crazy when he started to experience her dreams. He told her how unfinished, how bereft he felt when she had tried to work apart from him while down there and how it made him even more concerned for his sanity. He paused and then went on to tell her how upset a part of him had been when she had fallen ill upon coming back to the ship but how a part of him had shut down and how he could barely work up the energy, physically or mentally, to care about that, the Enterprise, himself, or about anything else because of her very illness. He couldn't cope with it all as part of him felt like it had been ripped away when Phlox had sedated her. Slowly, very slowly, he could feel her body start to uncurl and relax. He could feel her breathing even out, but not deepen. She wasn't asleep. He knew she was awake and had heard every word he said.

Growing even bolder, he told her about when Phlox broke the news to him about the condition that had afflicted them both, about what it meant. He talked about how he realized that she had seen everything that was in him, that she had seen his innermost dreams and desires, how they all centered on her and how he was very afraid that it would drive her away from him. He stopped, gathered his thoughts, and then tried to explain to her that despite what was in his deepest, most lurid dreams about her that he would never do anything about them, never do anything to her, never even think about doing anything with her that she did not want too. He paused one last time, a sinking feeling in his stomach, and told her that if she wanted nothing at all from him, that he would abide by that too. It was the last thing in the universe that he wanted and how now, being tied together like this, he had no idea how he was going to ever make it happen.

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She could feel his stubble catching on her hair as his face pressed against the back of head. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek as he continued to talk on and on telling her everything that was in his heart. She could feel her body stop its trembling as she began to realize that he no longer saw her as a child too young to be bothered with. She realized that he had always seen her as a woman, desirable, intelligent, someone worthy of being with. She realized that neither her youth, nor her family, had put him off. She realized that he didn't want someone else. She realized that all he had ever wanted was her. She realized that he had waited years to be with her and would continue to wait the rest of his life if he needed to. She realized that everything she had seen while asleep, while dreaming, had indeed been real. She realized that it hadn't all been a product of her wishful imagination. She closed her eyes, searching deep with herself, within him, and found that he was willing to give up the Enterprise, Starfleet, his dreams of space to be with her, to make her happy. She also found that she didn't need him to. He had given her his confidence of space, that it was no longer the daunting void waiting to swallow her up. She realized that all she wanted to do was to be with him.

XXXXX

Hoshi started to pull away from Jon's arms. She slowly turned over and lay on her side facing him. Locking her eyes with his she laid her hand upon his cheek and smiled softly at him. She could feel his surprise, his elation, and his desire for her. She leaned towards him and kissed him gently, lingeringly on the lips. The electric shock that they had felt so long ago they felt again as they deepened the kiss. They broke apart and lay in each other's arms for a long time after that, silently sharing what was in their hearts, exploring just how deeply they were connected. Without spoken words they decided that they would not worry about Starfleet, or the rest of the crew and any repercussions just yet. After all it wasn't their fault and if Phlox hadn't found a cure for this by now, and he hadn't, there was nothing Starfleet could do to separate them. They decided to enjoy this night together and leave the problem of Starfleet and their crewmates reactions till tomorrow. Jon rolled over putting Hoshi beneath him and leaned in for a kiss. She eagerly kissed him back, deepening it, reaching for him with her body and her mind. A current ran through them, connecting them, and continued on for the rest of the night.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next morning waking up in Jon's arms was a wonderful sensation for Hoshi. She could not only feel his arms physically around her and the heat coming off his body but could feel his love for her coming through their connection. _And what arms they are…_ She ran her hands up his corded forearms, over his biceps, and onto his muscled chest. That love she felt warmed her to the core and made her feel like she could handle whatever the day threw at her. She knew that the day was likely to throw something her way. No, it would be their way. They were in this together, for better or for worse. Jon awoke a few moments after she did and she was again struck at the feelings coming from him and from within herself. They were loath to get out of bed but knew that what came next HAD to be dealt with TODAY. _At least I don't have to make the report_ thought Hoshi wryly, as she got up and went searching for her clothes.

XXXXX

After reporting back to Phlox for one last round of once-overs he pronounced them both fit to return to duty. Jon needed to become the captain once more, in action instead of just words. He had been out of the loop for too many days. Hoshi felt bad for keeping him away from his post due to her issues in dealing with the emerging bond and instantly a wave of reassurance washed over her. Glancing up, she saw Jon giving her a quick half smile before going back to his discussion with Phlox. Phlox nodded, saying, "I'll get on it at once Captain. My report should be ready within the hour." Then went to his computer and got to work. Jon joined her over by the Infirmary door. Touching her on the arm, he looked down, "I'd like you to spend some time with T'Pol this morning before reporting for your shift. Use the Command Center. When you're done I'd like you back at your station." She nods "Yes sir" and then feels humor from him at her calling him 'sir' again.

XXXXX

In the Command Center T'Pol and Hoshi sit facing each other. T'Pol began "You may have wondered why the Captain requested that you speak to me this morning." Hoshi nods, but says nothing. "When I was placing the block within your mind I sensed that you were rather… strong, in certain areas, where most humans are not." Hoshi's face became quizzical. "Strong? I'm not sure I understand what you mean Sub Commander." T'Pol continued by pulling up an image of a human brain on the screen between them. "In most humans there is little neural activity in these locations." She indicated several regions. "However, I felt much activity there. When I was done and spoke with Dr. Phlox about my concerns he confirmed my suspicions by showing me your latest scans. They too showed activities in these areas. These areas are similar to areas of activity found within the minds of Vulcans who are particularly strong in telepathic abilities." Hoshi's mouth became a silent "O" and T'Pol spoke on. "I believe that you have some telepathic abilities Ensign although it is rather uncommon in humans. I have always been intrigued by your extraordinary lingual abilities and I think it would be safe to conclude that they are, at least partially, a result of your telepathic abilities."

Hoshi was somewhat shocked. She had never even considered this possibility. She had sometimes wondered at her highly unusual lingual skills but she never really thought about it in that light. But she was still confused as to why T'Pol was telling her all of this. "You are undoubtedly wondering why I am mentioning this to you as you have never exhibited any abilities outside of linguistics. It is my theory, which Dr. Phlox agrees with, that the reason you became ill when being separated from the captain was that your abilities were being awakened by what transpired on Binare. Being separated by too great a distance caused your new neural pathways to… stretch… past a point they were able to. This then caused your inability to enter into the REM state until the captain was once again by your side. The time you spent together while sedated allowed those pathways to heal." T'Pol paused and Hoshi cut in. "This is all very interesting but I am still wondering why you are telling me and not Phlox? And why are we not having this discussion in Sick Bay?" T'Pol gazed at her calmly. "I am informing you of this as I can be of some service to you and the choice of location should be obvious. We are much closer to the captain here then in the Infirmary." Hoshi responded, "Ah, but you would be farther away from Commander Tucker. Why not choose a midpoint for both of us?" T'Pol's eyebrow rose. "We are better connected then you and the captain because we have been connected mentally for sometime now. We can have more distance between us and not suffer. You and the captain however, should not be too far apart as of yet. I would like to help you in this. There is no one else on board who can teach you to use what has been awakened. But I will help you only if you wish it. I would not force this training upon you." Hoshi paused, considering. "No, I would like to learn." T'Pol replied. "Then let us begin."

XXXXX

An hour later they were done with their first session. It was exhausting and Hoshi had a slight headache. But even after only the most basic of exercises she could feel a difference in the connection she shared with Jon. She felt him with more clarity. She could tell that he was still hard at work on his report but was satisfied with his progress. _He must be almost done_, she thought. After setting a time for the next session Hoshi reported for her morning shift. Coming onto the Bridge she received a few curious glances from Travis and Lt. Reed but they said nothing about the last few days. Sitting down at her station felt like coming home and she was grateful for the routine work to take her mind off of what was going on in the captain's Ready Room.

Shortly there after the captain came out and it was business as usual for the rest of the shift. Hoshi didn't need to glance at him to know what he was doing or feeling and she tried to maintain as professional an attitude as he was maintaining. Regardless of their connection though, she was glad when the end of the shift came and they could leave. She knew there were raised eyebrows when he left with her but there was nothing to be done about it. Rumors would continue to fly until everything was ironed out with Starfleet and then the crew could be told.

XXXXX

That night she was grateful that her quarters were on the same deck as the captain's. It was relatively easy to be discreet in entering his quarters. They certainly couldn't stay apart and her bed was too small for the both of them. When she entered his cabin he enveloped her in his arms and he was no longer the captain but 'Jon' once more. Relief, completeness, and desire washed over her, coming off him in waves. It broke over her and snuffed out the worry about Starfleet. There was no need to speak as she knew what he wanted, what they both needed. Dimming the lights they climbed into bed.

Later they spoke, late into the night. She shared her fears about the possible repercussions of their bond. She wondered what Starfleet would do to him. She was not worried about herself so much as him. Starfleet and the Enterprise were a very large part of who he was and she didn't want that taken from him on her account. They both knew the regulations. Starfleet would most likely continue to ignore Trip and T'Pol but they would not overlook Henry Archer's son. She could feel reassurance coming from him as he started to nuzzle her neck. The worry left her and was replaced by something much nicer. _We do need to get some sleep though! _She thought, and then thought no more till morning.

XXXXX

She knew that Starfleet would have received the reports and had time to formulate a response by ship's morning. So she was unsurprised when she received a communication from them shortly after taking her shift. With a quick grim glance at her the captain was out of his chair and into his ready room a moment later. She was grateful for their bond as it kept her from going crazy during the hour he was in their speaking with them. She knew he was tense but not upset. She even felt a short-lived bout of surprise. She knew that with more training from T'Pol that she would eventually be able to communicate with words instead of feelings and tried not to be anxious. A beep on her console brought her back to herself. It was the captain. "Ensign, would you and the Commanders please report to my Ready Room." Relaying the message to them she waited for them to arrive on the Bridge. With the curious glances from the rest of the Bridge she squared her shoulders and entered the Ready Room waiting to hear what Starfleet had to say.


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own them. They would be happier if I did.

Chapter 10

Entering the captain's Ready Room Hoshi was grateful for their connection. She felt certain everything was going to turn out all right because all she felt from Jon was relief. Although, on occasion, he had been known to play a mean hand of poker she was sure that you couldn't bluff via mental hook-up. She searched his face, reached out with her mind, for some clue as to what had transpired. However, the captain's expression was unreadable, his mind, a blank. He sat calmly at his desk waiting for the three of them to take seats. The commanders took the sofa, sitting at opposite ends. They weren't even holding hands but you could sense something palpable between them. It was almost as if Hoshi could visualize their bond. The captain cleared his throat and everyone's eyes fixed on him. "I've heard back from Starfleet. I had a long talk with Admiral Forrest and he had a lot to say." Everyone shifted nervously in their seats. "While on a personal level Starfleet is appalled at what has happened to four of it's finest, professionally they are relieved that it was **only** the four of us. They recognize what could have happened if this 'effect' hadn't been discovered until after we sent the personnel specified in our agreement to the surface. Having written up the agreement I do have to agree with Starfleet. Having this happen to that many people would have, indeed, been a VERY large problem. Starfleet would not want to deal with the repercussions of having so many people bound together in some random way. When Starfleet read the reports from myself and from Dr. Phlox they came to the conclusion that it was only due to us working together in teams that caused the pairing. I neglected to mention the sleeping arrangements. Having a great number of people sleeping in barracks type situations bonding together would be…bad."

He paused, appearing to consider his next words carefully. "Commanders," he began and both Trip and T'Pol stiffened in their seats, "I have been ordered to inform you that while Starfleet recognizes this condition took place against your will and is permanent, they still do not brook any fraternization on board their ships." The captain sighed, "Now, I have been asked to tell you, off the record, that they will continue to look the other way in regards to your relationship. They have been aware of it for some time and providing that it does not affect your performances on board they will pretend it doesn't exist." Hoshi saw Trip and T'Pol glance at each other in relief.

After a moment of mentally processing all of this Trip turned and asked, "That's all very well fine and good, capt'n but what about you and Hoshi?" The captain paused again, this time for even longer. Turning to stare out the porthole he said in his most captain-like voice "Starfleet does not allow for fraternization aboard any of their ships. If any Starfleet personnel are caught then they will be discharged immediately with no retention of rank or benefits." He finished and continued to gaze out the porthole watching the stars zip by. Hoshi felt herself sinking. _How could they do this to us? To him? After all he's done for them?_ Dimly, she heard her emotions echoed by Trip as he let loose a few choice words about Starfleet and their collective wisdom. She continued to rage inside and then felt a calming hand brush over her emotions. Looking up at the captain she saw that he was stepping out of his captain persona for a moment. Taking a deep breath he started to speak again "Admiral Forrest let it be known, completely off the record, that since Hoshi and I had no choice in this bonding, and that it would be fatal to try and sever it or to work apart, that if NOTHING changed in our professional lives AND if we were VERY careful in our personal ones that Starfleet would pretend this never happened." Hoshi felt waves of relief wash over her. It would be all right. They would be able to stay with Starfleet, at least for now. She knew that Jon wasn't ready to give up his career for something Earth-side. But she knew there had to be more. She felt that Jon was holding something back.

Jon spoke again, once again the captain. "Starfleet has sent along an official version of events that they would like me to distribute to the crew. The only crew who will know the truth will be the alpha shift Bridge Crew. Starfleet did not even want them to know but I stressed that, One: there were only two people left on the Bridge Crew that didn't know, Two: leaving Mr. Mayweather and Lt. Reed out of the loop could, in some way at some future time be detrimental to performance." He paused and a chuckle escaped him, now once more just Jon. "And Three: when I pointed out that Travis grew up on a transport, in an environment where it was essential to keep business to oneself, and Malcolm had done covert operations for them with Section 31, and I wasn't even supposed to know about that,… they… well… they decided to let it go." A collective sigh went up, even T'Pol was relieved about not having to hide this situation any longer from the remaining two members of the Bridge Crew.

Jon started to speak as the captain again. "The gist of what will be told to the crew is that Binare has a virus that is highly contagious and causes various side effects. The first and foremost symptom will be nasty migraine-like headache, which will explain Hoshi's stay in the Infirmary. If left untreated the virus could debilitate or kill the host. However, it is being stressed that there is no way to cure this virus and that it can only be managed. There will be a warning beacon placed in orbit around Binare to warn off any of our ships. A special liaison task group that Starfleet has just formed will deal with any and all contact with Binare. No one is to know about what transpired." At the quizzical looks from those around him the captain explained. "Starfleet feels that if this were general knowledge that someone, somewhere, would eventually try and exploit this." He paused and considered his next words carefully. "It was stressed to me that we were not to even inform our families of this condition. If we leak this information, Starfleet is willing to go to court martial over it." Trip whistled and Hoshi started to protest.

Jon held up his hands to quiet them. "Let me finish. Off the record, Admiral Forrest did say that on our next swing back through to Jupiter Station that the Enterprise was going to receive a complete upgrade. All quarters will be spruced up and space reallocated. All of our quarters will be placed next to each other in a special location reserved just for Bridge Crew. Our quarters will be fitted with a secret sliding door located in the back of the wardrobes into the adjacent room's wardrobe." Eyebrows rose around the room. "Starfleet may seem heartless sometimes, and they are often just that. But they are trying to be accommodating to a certain extent. They would rather that none of us are seen entering and exiting each other's quarters with any frequency. They are going to justify all of this by saying the Bridge Crew needs a special lift directly to the Bridge, which is why we'll all be grouped together now. When we all finally leave the Enterprise those cabins will be retrofitted again to appear like all the rest."

Pausing one last time, he looked at them all, meeting their eyes in turn. "Starfleet does also want us to keep a private log of how these bonds continue to develop. They would like to know the extent and severity of the condition. If the Binares or Phlox were incorrect and this turns out to wane in time they would like to know so restrictions can be lifted. I'll talk to Travis and Malcolm in a few minutes. The rest of the crew will be addressed when each shift ends." He smiled and finished. "Well, we should all get back to work. Ensign, would you please send in Lt. Reed and Mr. Mayweather? Thank you." He stood and gestured for them to all leave. Hoshi was disappointed to not be able to voice her concerns or have any time alone with Jon but when she searched for him in her mind it was almost as if he were there, mentally holding her hand, giving it a squeeze. That feeling stayed with her through the rest of her shift despite him never coming out of his Ready Room. When Travis and Malcolm finally came out of the captain's Ready Room they both wore expressions of concern, puzzlement, almost alarm. She and T'Pol received a few more odd glances from them but then it was business as usual. She could wait till tonight to talk to Jon. Maybe then she could get answers to the rest of her questions and find out what Jon had been holding back.


	11. Chapter 11

They're not mine! I own not a thing!

Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Right before her shift ended Hoshi received a message from Jon on her station. He told her to leave as soon as her shift was over and go about her typical after-shift business. He had to start addressing the crew, now that a shift change was coming up, and they needed to maintain some physical distance to help keep things as "above board" as they could per Starfleet's orders. He'd hurry things but if she felt ill as the distance increased she should work her way back to the Mess Hall where he would be. _Hopefully this won't take too long she thought,_ and then deleted the message. Pondering what to do with the first free time she'd had in a while she decided to hit the gym right after her shift ended.

"Hoshi, what are you up to after you get off?" Travis asked, breaking into her thoughts. She looked up from her station and smiled at him. "Oh, I thought I'd go work out for a while. I thought I'd do some work with the punching bag, and maybe some weight work."

"Do you want some company?" he asked back. Shrugging, she replied, "Sure, I would love to have a spotter. It's been a long time since I did anything with the weights." Travis glanced once at Malcolm and then got onto the lift with Hoshi.

They made small talk all the way down to the gym, Travis catching Hoshi up on all the ship's gossip she missed while asleep. Entering the gym they split off to go change and when Hoshi came back out Travis was waiting for her. He was standing at the weight bench chatting with Malcolm, who was also dressed for a workout. Seeing Hoshi Malcolm nodded to Travis and went over to the mats and started going through the forms in a martial arts routine. Getting started, Travis and Hoshi continued to make small talk until the gym emptied out and it was just the three of them. Once the last crewmember left Travis looked down at Hoshi where she was laying on the bench waiting for Travis to add more weight to her bar. "Hoshi, we need to talk to you." Malcolm came over from where he had been working on the mats.

"Sure Travis, about what?" she grunted as she pressed through the next lift. Adjusting his stance above her he said, "About what's happened to you, to the captain." He paused, trying to choose his next words. Malcolm cut in, "We wanted to know if you were all right. If there was anything we could do." Hoshi smiled up at them briefly as she lowered the bar back into the cradle. She ducked out from under the bar and sat up, wiping sweat off her brow. "I'm fine, really. It's going to take some getting used to…" she shrugged then said, "It's not so bad."

The men exchanged a glance, then Travis said gently, "Are you sure? 'Cause if things are… not to your liking… then we could." He paused, at a loss for words. Once again Malcolm took up the thread of the conversation. "Hoshi, if, because of this bond, the captain is taking certain… liberties… that he shouldn't… that are unwelcome… we want you to know that we are here for you, regardless of the fact that he is the captain…" He finished awkwardly.

Hoshi's eyebrows rose in surprise. _WHAT? How COULD they think that about Jon!_ She shook her head. Standing up to look them both in the eyes she said, "First, HOW COULD you think that he would do anything against my will. Malcolm, do I need to show you that I remember all of my personal defense training? Second, what would you do if he was?" she paused, raising one eyebrow. They both looked a little sheepish but Travis pressed on.

"Hoshi, you're sweet, and we know that he's known you for a long time, it's just that… you're attractive, we've been out here a long time…. we don't want him to take advantage…" he trailed off as she glared at him again.

"Maybe it's you I need to demonstrate my defense training on." She replied snarkily. Taking a deep breath she thought, _Sigh… Sweet, but misguided._ As she went to speak again the gym door's opened and several crewmen came in. She lowered her voice and spoke softly. "Look, I've known Jon a very long time, much longer then the both of you put together. I trust him with my life. I would never have agreed to get on this flying tin can in the first place if I didn't. He would NEVER, ever do anything untoward. This mental bond adds a whole new layer to our relationship and that is something we'll, most likely, spend the rest of lives working on." She sighed, and then continued, "Unless Phlox and the Binares are wrong." She paused, glanced around to see that no one had come within earshot. "I really appreciate the sentiment from you two. I count you both as two of my closest friends. Whatever has happened, is happening, or is going to happen between Jon and I, will be because we both want it. Nothing is going to happen that I don't want." She paused once more and smiled wickedly at them. "And if it did, I know you two will be ready to help me mop up and shove a body out an airlock." Both men chuckled and continued to look sheepish. She placed a hand on Travis's shoulder, looking at them both. "Now, knock it off with the pessimistic attitude. The best help you both could be right now is to dispel any rumors that may spring up. Someone is bound to notice that the captain and I are spending more time together then usual. You could do the same for the Commanders too." She lay back down on the bench. "Now that we have dealt with that, can we finish our workout now?" Both men nodded looking relieved that the discussion was over. Malcolm went back to his martial arts routine on the mat and Travis took up his stance by Hoshi's head.

As Travis and Hoshi continued on with their workout the captain walked into the gym, ready to exercise. He nodded to the various crewmen around the room, and then to them as he passed on his way to the free weights. Hoshi had felt him coming before he had even entered the room. She knew that he had a lot on his mind just as she was sure he had felt her surprise, then annoyance, then amusement with Travis and Malcolm. Switching places with Travis she thought that they sure would have a lot to discuss tonight. She still wanted to know what had made him surprised earlier when he had talked to Starfleet. Sighing inwardly she realized that it would be a few hours more before she could sneak into his cabin and talk face to face. Then she would know. Now she just had to concentrate on spotting Travis, and not watching Jon. _The captain, I need to think of him as The Captain_. She sighed, he just looked much too good as he worked up a sweat for her to think of him as The Captain. _Practice makes perfect!_


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Hi all, this next chapter will have to keep you until after Christmas. Life is getting very busy! Chapter 13 will be out sometime between Christmas and New Years! Enjoy! Like always: I don't own them, they would be happier if I did!

Chapter 12

He had made it through the day, he had made it through his talk with the crew, and he had made it through his workout, through dinner, and now was waiting impatiently for the decks to empty out so Hoshi could come without being spotted. He sat in his desk chair throwing his water polo ball against the bulkhead, Porthos's eyes following the movement of the ball from his bed in the corner. Jon had felt a brief flash of jealousy at seeing her workout with Travis, which he hoped he had suppressed quickly. _After all, they've been exercising together since we left Earth, they **are **friends. But what was she annoyed about? What had amused her so much?_ Just then there was a small tap at his door and then it whooshed open, Hoshi entering his personal code and coming in quickly. He caught the ball and placed it back on the shelf, standing up. Coming over to her, he enveloped her in a bear hug, only releasing her when she pulled back.

She smiled up at him, the tension leaving her body finally. "SO, what are you holding out with? I know that you have something held over from your talk with Starfleet." Hoshi asked.

"I could ask you almost the same thing. What was going on in the gym? Did someone say something?" John queried back.

"I asked first." Insisted Hoshi as she went and sat down on the bed, pulling him with her. "Yes," he shot back. "But I am a gentleman and ladies go first." He finished smugly as they settled back onto the bed. Jon sat against the bulkhead, Hoshi wrapped in his arms, waiting for her to start. "Come on, out with it." He prodded, then trailing some kisses down her neck.

"FINE… I'll start." _Although the kissing feels nice, maybe we could put off talking for a bit._ He squeezed her. "Come on, out with it." He prodded again. Sighing, she started to talk. "It was nothing. Malcolm and Travis wanted to offer me their… **services**." She felt his shock before the words came out of his mouth. "WHAT?" he burst out. "Shhh… your cabin's not sound proof!" she whispered, giggling.

He tried to gather his thoughts. "Would you mind explaining exactly what Malcolm and Travis had been offering?" he asked very quietly and precisely. Hoshi then came clean and told him about the entire conversation. By the end when she related the bit about the airlock he was chuckling with her. "You'd shove me out an airlock?" he asked in mock hurt. "Of course! A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!" she replied, then laughed quietly herself. "OK. I've fessed up. What are you holding out on?" Hoshi demanded.

He pondered where to start. He "oofed" as her elbow connected with his ribs. Apparently he had pondered too long. "Ok. Ok." He said as he rubbed the spot on his side. "When I talked to Starfleet this morning I first spoke with a panel that had been hastily put together to deal with this Binare fiasco. After getting the run down from them they passed me to Admiral Forrest next. When I talked with him, he had some surprising things to say." He trailed off.

Hoshi waited and then prompted him. "**LIKE….**" Jon started to speak again before he received another dig to the ribs "Well, Starfleet has been considering revising their fraternization regulations for quite some time now. Apparently, enlistment is down because more and more people are wanting to get married, or start families, or just not be out here for that long without some form of companionship." He stopped and replayed the conversation in his mind.

"THAT'S what caused you such surprise?" Hoshi asked, craning her neck to look back at him. Jon started again. "Noooo. I wouldn't say that was the only thing. Forrest went on to say that within the next year or two everything should be ironed out with the new frat. regs. However, it would NOT apply to the captain." He felt Hoshi tense up in his arms. He hurried on. "That wasn't too much of a surprise to me. I never really thought Starfleet would allow a captain to carry on a relationship on board. There's that whole 'captain's woman' stigma." Hoshi snorted in amusement but kept silent so he'd continue. "What really surprised me was that when he was done telling me all this Forrest informed me that Starfleet already had suspicions about me… and you." Hoshi whipped around in his arms, looking at him.

"WHAT?" She hissed quietly, looking shocked. Jon spoke again. "It seems that someone has been feeding them information about our growing 'relationship'. Starfleet has been pushing it off to the side up till now. They had been discounting what they heard. When they received the reports on Binare they put two and two together. Although Phlox didn't report on our sleeping arrangements, someone at Starfleet figured it out because of how we paired off in the bonding. We spent more time together in quarters then in doing our assigned tasks while on Binare. They also figured out the why of that. They've known for a very long time about Trip and T'Pol. They've always known that Trip and I have been friends since before Enterprise. And they know that you wouldn't have agreed to the sleeping arrangements if WE hadn't have had such a good, long standing 'relationship'. After what transpired on Binare, they started lending credence to what they had been told about us." He paused, leaning his head back against the bulkhead, closing his eyes. Hoshi was quiet in his arms, waiting for the rest. Finally, he started to speak again. "Admiral Forrest went on to say that Starfleet does recognize that there is nothing to be done about any of this now. We are to hide everything as much as we can. That's the why behind having our quarters shifted and altered. But he also wanted to let me know… to let you know… that we're going to be under a very big microscope… by them… and by the people who've been feeding them their information about us."

Hoshi turned in his arms again, concerned, looking him in the face. "Did they say **WHO** has been giving them this information? Not that I can think of **WHAT** they could possibly have been saying. Up to this point, we've always been friendly, but no more so then any other members of the Bridge Crew. I mean, I've always had my... fantasies, and you've had yours, apparently." she paused and blushed. Jon sat quietly, head still back, but a sad smile crept to his lips. Continuing on, she said "But neither of us... we've never..." she trailed off, waiting for what Jon had to say. Jon wearily picked his head back up, opening his eyes and looking at Hoshi. "I don't know what has been said, but Forrest did tell me the **who**…" he paused, not wanting to say it, but knowing that he had to tell her. "The who is… your parents."


	13. Chapter 13

Hope you all had the merriest of Christmases!

As always, I don't own them. If I did, they would all be happier!

Chapter 13

This time the shock drove Hoshi to her feet. "**WHAT!**" she screeched! Jon got up and quickly shushed her. "Shh… they haven't soundproofed our quarters yet!" he whispered urgently, all the while mentally reassuring her. Hoshi was seething. _What had her parents, her mother done? What could she possibly have told Starfleet to make them suspicious? She was going to have a very pointed conversation with her mother. She knew that her father was probably just going along with her mother in this. UGH!_ Jon broke in on her thoughts, wrapping his arms back around her as she stood in the middle of the cabin, shaking with fury.

XXXXX

He calmed her, at some point and then got her tucked into bed, eventually, but he knew she never slept that night. His dreams were incomplete and erratic because she stayed awake, fuming all night. Apparently their brain-to-brain hook-up was nowhere near as complete as Trip and T'Pol's was. If it had been he would have PUT her to sleep just so she would stop worrying over what they couldn't change, billions of light years away from her parents. All during his shift that day he pondered the whole situation and kept coming up with more and more questions about it that would have to go unanswered. While the mission with Binare was over and they were heading back towards their own solar system they wouldn't be close enough to one of the major relays for weeks yet. The smaller sub space relays were in place for 'as needed' communication with Starfleet. They were not, however, there for personal messages and mail. It would be almost a month, maybe more, before they got close enough for personal mail. Maybe then Hoshi could talk to her parents and see what was going on. In the meantime, he suggested that Hoshi continue on with her lessons with T'Pol so that they could continue to develop whatever telepathy she might have. Even he took the occasional lesson with T'Pol, with Trip present, adding his two cents worth. While he may not have anything extraordinary about his cerebral make-up, he could do, and was practicing mental exercises that would help clear his thoughts, make him more receptive for clearly communicating with Hoshi. He sighed, refocused his thoughts, and went back to his reports. The ship still needed to be run, and he still needed to do it, no matter how much he'd rather toss it all out an airlock and spend all his time with Hoshi. Sending her a brief mental smile, he received one in return, and went back to work.

XXXXX

In the days and weeks that followed Hoshi grew in her abilities and he did in his too. Hoshi was able to clearly send 'worded' thoughts to him and he was able to understand them. When he cleared his mind and stretched he was able to think something and have Hoshi 'pick it up' so to speak. He would probably never be able to send her anything other then emotions but then neither could Trip with T'Pol and their relationship only continued to grow as time and their bond deepened. Jon was very scrupulous in keeping up appearances with the crew and the Bridge Crew went to great lengths to squelch any and all rumors that sprang up. It would be another month before they would be back in range of a major relay and then at least another two before they were back at Jupiter Station for the new outfitting. Jon and Hoshi made a point to not spend time with each other off the bridge, at least not until well into Beta shift when most everyone was asleep!

One Month Later

They had been within range of the farthest major relay from Earth for only a few hours now. Hoshi spent most of her shift overseeing the downloading and transferring of data off of the relay. It would be hours yet before anyone had a chance to read anything personal. He, himself, was buried up to his ears in reports that Starfleet had sent to him. He'd be working for quite some time. Then he was going to reward himself with some needed exercise in the gym with Trip. It had been a while since they had gotten together and he looked forward to some guy time.

XXXXXX

He was in the gym sparring with Trip, and having a good time, when it hit him. He was having fun, laughing, getting in some good exercise with Trip as they danced around the makeshift boxing ring and the next minute he was trying to kill his best friend. A wave of fury, of anger, of utter rage washed over him and took him along in its wake. He had never understood the phrase "seeing red" but he did now. At least, the tiny part of his brain that was still thinking logically did. Most of his brain was now devoted to trying to kill Trip. He saw Trip become concerned, asking him what was wrong, when the wave first hit. He had staggered and almost fallen at that point. Then he saw Trip step back in alarm as he raised his head, stood back up, and come after him, growling in rage.

XXXXX

Trip continued to dance around the ring dodging Jon's attacks but when Jon lunged past him, carried by too much momentum, Trip took the opportunity to get out of the ring and try and make it to the comm. panel on the wall. He was going to need some help. Jon was acting insane. Jon was sweating bullets, he was incoherent, and his eyes were literally turning red. Trip had known Jon for almost as long as Hoshi and had seen him mad plenty of times but this was unlike anything he had ever seen in his friend. Turning his back for a mere moment he heard the weight rack crash and turned in time to see Jon hurl a 50 lb weight at him as if it were a small discus. Dodging to the side, the weight hit the comm. panel and broke it, sending sparks out into the room. A small flicker of fear went through him and he tried to center himself so he could contact T'Pol. Continuing to dodge Jon's constant attacks he never the less had to fight back or be killed. Getting in a few good punches here and there, he kept backing around the room, praying that T'Pol would come and bring the cavalry with her. He did not want to hurt Jon but that's what it was coming down to. Dodging yet another thrown weight, he landed a kidney punch and then sideswiped Jon's legs out from under him. Backing away again, he paused to wipe the sweat dripping off of his forehead. He noticed Jon getting up too late. Jon tackled him and pinned him to the floor.

XXXXX

Tackling Trip, Jon sat up on him and started to beat him, landing blow after blow into his face. At first Trip had fought back and almost unseated him but the last two or three Jon had landed squarely in Trip's face. Jon was so angry that he didn't recognize himself. It was as if someone had turned him into a raging monster. He was so engulfed by what he was feeling that he didn't hear the door open behind him, he didn't hear the feet running in, and he never felt the phaser bolt that hit him in the back. Then he felt no more.

Some time later.

Jon awoke in the Infirmary, sore, stiff, and strapped to the bed. Not just a chest band held him down but one at his waist, another at his legs, and one around each wrist and ankle. Moving his head he saw Hoshi lying in the bed next to him, strapped down just the same. Running his tongue over his teeth, his mouth felt dry, and his teeth fuzzy. Coughing slightly he heard movement behind the screen and Phlox came into view. "Well, it is good to see you awake finally Captain." He said, concern in his voice and written all over his normally happy face.

"What happened," he croaked. "Why am I here? What's wrong with Hoshi? Why am I strapped down?" his voice rising in concern with each question.

Phlox laid a calming hand on his shoulder. "What is the last thing you remember?"

"I was in the gym, sparring with Trip, and we… and I…" he faded off trying to remember. His eyes widened in horror, his body instinctively trying to rise. "I tried to kill Trip!" he said faintly. Then speaking in a rush "Where is he, did I hurt him?"

Phlox smiled slightly. "No, you did not succeed in killing Commander Tucker, but if the Sub Commander and Lt. Reed hadn't come in, you might have." He paused and went on. "Lt. Reed had to stun you to get you off of the Commander, and then we had to beam you both into the Infirmary to avoid anyone seeing you, or him, in that state, and asking questions. Commander Tucker will be all right in a few days. I had to do some reconstructive work on his face but no teeth were lost and nothing internal was damaged."

Jon relaxed at that, he was relieved that he hadn't hurt Trip too badly, and was relieved that the crew knew nothing of the incident. _But why did I do that… I'll owe Trip forever now… but what happened?_ Voicing his thoughts he said, "But why did I do that? And why is Hoshi here and unconscious?"

"Well, Sub Commander T'Pol thought it would be prudent to check in on Hoshi after finding you in such a state and she and Mr. Reed found her in the process of… dismantling her cabin, shall we say. She, too, was not in a frame of mind to listen to reason so she was also stunned and transported here. The Sub Commander believes that whatever 'agitated' you came from her and I imagine when she awakens we can all find out what that was. In the meantime I want you to rest."

"But the crew, Porthos, … " he trailed off, struggling to rise despite the straps.

"Are all fine." Phlox finished firmly. "You have only been in here two hours, Gamma shift has just started. No one has missed you or Hoshi yet. Mr. Mayweather has taken care of Porthos and the Commanders, Mr. Reed, and Mr. Mayweather are off repairing both the gym and Hoshi's quarters. Relax. I expect that Hoshi will be wakening soon and then we can find out what seems to be the problem." He finished, finally smiling. Patting the captain's shoulder he went on "Until that time I am going to leave you like this for everyone's safety, from what Commander Tucker says, you pack quite a punch!" and turned and went back to his desk.

_What was going on? What had happened to make Hoshi so angry? Why had it affected me like this? She's been angry in the past several months since the bond was put in place and I've never felt anything like this. It had never taken me over like this before. Why now?_ In fact, he knew she had experienced many different strong emotions in the last several months and none, save the one of euphoria, had **done** anything to him. Sure, he felt them, but nothing overwhelmed him, changed him like that. He paused thinking of the times when they had shared those highs and it made him smile briefly, thinking of those moments that had caused a shared euphoria, but even the thoughts of those intimate moments could not erase his worry and concern over what had transpired_. Is this a permanent thing? Are we going to not be able to function any longer? Is this a detrimental side effect from the bond? Was something going wrong with it, with our bond, with them?_

A rustling and a moan coming from the bed beside him broke into his thoughts. Hoshi was starting to come around.


	14. Chapter 14

Thanks to the online Japanese-English dictionaries that are out there!

_koishii_ means beloved, _hahaoya_ means mother_, otokooya_ means father_, kusobabaa_ means "B%*&y woman" loosely translated

As always, I don't own them, they'd be happier if I did!

Chapter 14

"Phlox, I think Hoshi's coming around!" Jon called out tensely. Phlox came bustling around the corner of the partition, concern on his face.

"Good, good, fine… let me call the Sub Commander, let me ready a hypo spray…." He chattered on, sounding a bit flustered. Jon became even more concerned. _Phlox never sounds flustered and why is he calling T'Pol down here when she needs to be covering for my, for our mess… and what does he need the hypo for? _he thought. "Ah Phlox, what's the problem?" he voiced aloud.

"Hmm?" Phlox looked up from where he was loading a hypospray. "No problem, just precautions." He smiled at the captain, but it was a preoccupied look. "The Sub Commander wanted to be here when Hoshi awoke in case her services would be needed and the hypospray is just loaded with a light sedative should either of you need some help in maintaining calm."

Jon mentally rolled his eyes but then remembered the damage he did to the gym. Perhaps the spray was justified. Just then the doors whooshed open and Trip and T'Pol strode in.

"We arrived as soon as we could Doctor. Has the Ensign fully regained consciousness yet?" Said T'Pol, the epitome of calm, herself.

"No, but she'll be there shortly." Replied Phlox somewhat tensely. Just then Hoshi began to stir again and her eyelids started to flutter open. T'Pol turned to the captain and said, "We do not know what she experienced that upset her. I want you to empty your thoughts and project feelings of calm, love, and acceptance to Ensign Sato. It would be wise to help keep her calm while we determine what seems to be the problem."

Jon did as he was asked but wished that he could be released, sitting by her side, while she regained consciousness. He did understand, however, that no one wanted a repeat of the events of several hours ago. He emptied his mind, reached out to Hoshi as best as he was able, and did as T'Pol asked. He could feel her emotions, some fuzzy thoughts coming from her, the occasional word in Japanese floating through his brain. As Hoshi fully awoke he was hit with a wave of confusion, then thoughts slowly unfolded themselves within her, and therefore, into him. _He saw her downloading all the personal mail, sorting it, sending it to the appropriate places. He saw her finding several messages from her mother; shunt them off to her console in her quarters for later. He saw her opening them, later; he must have been at the gym at this point. She read them one by one…Then he felt the rage he had felt earlier._ He heard a beeping noise; he hadn't realized they were both hooked up to the monitors. Her heart was racing, his was as well. He couldn't see well enough, couldn't reach out to her and look to see what it was that had upset her so much. He could hear Hoshi start to wrestle with her bonds and could feel his own muscles start to bunch. He fought against the impulse to strain against his bonds; he could feel the anger building inside him, threatening to overwhelm him. In a strained voice Jon said, "Phlox, give her the sedative, now. But don't put her out. I need to talk to her. We need to get to the bottom of this." He heard the hiss of the spray and then he felt the effects. As Hoshi started to relax, his body relaxed as well, and the haze that had started to cloud his vision lifted. He felt like himself again. "Phlox let me up, please. I feel fine, I need to see her, to talk to her." He could see Phlox and Trip exchange glances. "I'm fine, really. Besides, Trip can punch me in the jaw a few times if I start acting strange, he certainly owes me." He said, almost ruefully.

They released his bonds and he sat up slowly, feeling all of his forty-plus years for once. Groaning he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and looked at Hoshi. She was still bound, still angry looking, but no longer straining against her bonds. She was dressed in her pajamas, but they were rumpled and torn in a few spots, probably from when she damaged her quarters in her rage. He also saw that she was weeping silently, tears streaming out from under her closed eyelids and down the sides of her face. Coming to her side he started to croon softly to her, as one would a small child, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. Someone thrust a tissue into his hands and he wiped her eyes. He reached out to her with all he could, to try to reassure her. _Whatever has happened, we'll face it together._ He didn't know if she was picking up on his thoughts but he tried his utmost to make her understand him. Finally, after a long moment, she took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. "Hosh, honey, koishii, what's the matter. What happened?" He said softly, still stroking her face. He had a brief moment of embarrassment over them having this tender moment with an audience but it was quickly gone. He realized that the people in the room were like family to him. No, they were his family, they all meant the world to him. His private epiphany about this was interrupted when Hoshi sniffed and cleared her throat.

"I… she, hahaoya…. then otokooya, father…" she faltered, her voice choking. He could feel the rage in her growing again. She started to wrestle against her bonds once more. "Kusobabaa! How could she?" She ground out, continuing to struggle. He could feel her emotions taking him over once more. His knuckles turned white as he held onto the edge of the bed, willing his hands not to fist.

_How is she overcoming the sedatives? I need to know what has happened, but this has got to stop…, _he thought. Coming to a difficult decision he choked out in his captain voice "Put her out, Phlox."

"But I thought you wanted…."

"No," he said more forcefully, "she's overcoming the sedatives and I feel like I'm going to…" he gulped, suppressing his rising anger, an anger that wasn't his, "Do it **NOW** before I **HURT** someone." He heard Phlox rush to get a different, stronger, dose. He heard the hiss; his vision already clouded over with rage, and then felt the emotion drain out of him, like water from a tub. He inhaled deeply, blinking his eyes, everything returning to normal. He had to slowly release his hands from the edges of the bed. He was surprised he hadn't dented the edges, he had gripped them so hard. Bowing his head, inhaling deeply, he thought fast. Clearing his throat he said, "Phlox, keep her fully sedated through Alpha shift. I need to be doing my job, being seen. We can start the rumor that Hoshi's been struck again with the mythical virus from Binare. Perhaps you could send out a roster for the crew informing them of times they can be tested so you can do some screening for this thing. It'll help cement the idea that something on Binare is virulent and not agreeing with our human constitutions." Sighing, he scrubbed his face with his hand, feeling the stubble. "After Alpha shift is over, I'll be back, and we'll try this again. We will get to the bottom of this. Just not right this moment." Turning back to Trip and T'Pol he asked, "How are the repairs coming? Does it look like anything has happened?"

T'Pol spoke "No sir, we had just finished putting the gym back together when we received Phlox's summons. Lt. Reed and Mr. Mayweather are finishing Hoshi's quarters."

Phlox broke in. "But Captain, the longer Hoshi is out, and the longer you two are apart, the worse you'll feel."

Looking at Phlox, every inch the captain now, he said tiredly, "I know, but it can't be avoided. The ship needs to come first…." His tone softened, and he continues, "Don't schedule anyone between 1200-1300, I want to come sit with her." His tone becoming all business again, he went on, "I'll be busy with reports and department head meetings all morning but at 1300 I want you, Trip, to report to my Ready Room." Turning to T'Pol he said, "and I would like you to report at 1315. I need some time alone with Trip to do a bit of groveling and asking for forgiveness." He smiled ruefully at his longtime friend. Trip started to brush it away but Jon cut him off. "Phlox, keep me updated on your progress with the crew and on Hoshi's condition." Stroking her face one last time he walled himself off and left the Infirmary.


	15. Chapter 15

Once again, thanks to the Japanese/English online dictionaries that are out there. Also thanks to the Vulcan Language Dictionary compiled by 'Selek at the Vulcan Language Institute'

These characters are not mine, they'd be happier if they were. I also don't make any money off of them.

Chapter 15

The Captain's morning passed slowly. He worked hard at pretending interest in the department head meetings and all the reports seemed inane. He tried even harder at not snapping at his crew, but didn't always succeed. Pretty soon people were starting to avoid him in the corridors, and he really didn't care. When 1200 finally came he was eager to get back to Sick Bay to be with Hoshi. As he strode through the corridors he could feel his tension leave him the closer he got to the Infirmary. Coming through the door Pholx looked up at him, smiling. "She's doing fine Captain. I'm off to get a bite to eat and I'll be back in about twenty minutes. I'll key the door for privacy on my way out. When I get back we can talk about the 'screenings'." He left, humming to himself.

Jon approached Hoshi's biobed, pulling up a stool. Sitting down, he sighed, released the band on her arm, and took her hand in his. He looked down at his hand, holding her tiny one, and sighed again. _What is going on? Hoshi, I wish you were able to tell me what is going on… I won't let anything happen to you…_ He sighed again and his thumb started to rub back and forth against the knuckles of her hand. He sat there is silence for a few minutes, just enjoying being in her presence. He had been pondering what had happened to Hoshi to cause her such distress and had come up with no answers. He suspected that it had something to do with her family, but what would be causing such rage. What could they have possibly done? Knowing that Phlox was due back at any moment he placed her arm back on the bed and replaced the restraining strap. He stood, brushed back the hair out of her face and kissed her gently on the forehead. He remained there, just looking at her when Phlox came back in.

Phlox had actually been back for some time but had not entered the room. He stopped and regarded the captain, standing there, watching him watch Hoshi. An uncharacteristic pall of gloom settled over him. He had been so pleased when two of his favorite people finally had a chance to be together. He had suspected their mutual affection for each other over the course of the years but he knew both of them too well to think that either would ever make a move. He knew that Hoshi respected Jon's career too much to jeopardize it, even if she had thought he would look at her like that. He also knew that the captain bounced between treating Hoshi like a little sister and pushing her away, treating her with 'kid gloves' he believed was the Earth expression, afraid to come too close. Sighing to himself, he opened the door, being sure to make noise and not startle the captain. He began, "So I've had my lunch and if you are ready Captain I can give you my report on the crew." Jon turned to look at Phlox, the "captain" persona wrapping around him once again like armor. Gesturing for Phlox to begin, they went over how Phlox was helping to cement this nonexistent virus into the minds of the crew and how the crew was concerned but not overly alarmed. On the way back to his Ready Room the captain pondered how he, and the Bridge Crew was going to pull this off, not only today, but for the rest of their lives.

XXXXX

At 1300 hours the captain was back in his Ready Room with the remains of his lunch sitting uneaten on his desk when the chime rang. Trip entered the office a moment later, stood at attention, and fired off a regulation salute. Jon looked up and smiled slightly, the gloom leaving him for a moment at Trip's antics. "Trip, sit down, you know this is supposed to be about me apologizing to you, not you trying to make me feel better." He started.

Trip sat down on the sofa, crossed his leg and leaned back. "Jon, there's nothin' for you to go on about. I understan' what happenen' and I know it wasn't you in there. I also know that you've probably been beatin' yourself up about this for the last 10 hours or so and that's punishment enough. Besides, there's no harm done but some lost sleep putting everything to rights and some time with Phlox patchin' me up." He paused and caressed his jaw, wincing in mock pain and continued, "Although, if you saw a way clear to give me some extra time off next time we're at Risa I'd be sure to never bring this up again…" he drawled. Jon snorted slightly and nodded his head, relief washing over him. Trip was as he always was, and for that he was grateful. "However, next time Hoshi wants a sparrin' partner in the gym I just might have to take her down a peg or two. Who knew she was that feisty?" Jon nodded in agreement and frowned again. Trip saw the frown and asked, "So you've no idea about what mighta set her off?"

Sighing, Jon shook his head, "No, I've no idea past that it had something to do with her parents. I know that she hasn't always been on the best of terms with them but I have no idea what would have happened to cause her to act like this." He was interrupted by another chime. T'Pol entered, punctual as usual. At Jon's insistence she joined Trip on the sofa. Addressing her he said, "T'Pol, I want to know if you have any theories about this. I've seen Trip get mad plenty of times and it has never affected you like the way I was affected last night. In fact, Hoshi's been mad several times since leaving Binare and nothing like this has happened before."

T'Pol folded her hands gracefully in her lap and regarded Jon for a moment. "To answer your first question, I am a Vulcan. There is nothing that the Commander could feel that would bring me to the point that you were taken to last night. We have had millennia as a species to learn to suppress our emotions. In fact, have you not noticed the change in the Commander's behavior since our bond has been strengthened?" Jon noticed a slight eye roll from Trip at that, but it was true, he had noticed a change in his friend. While Trip would never be called a hothead, Trip could certainly emote when he wanted to. He had noticed that Trip's reactions and even every day behavior was more controlled, more concise, since the incident on Binare. Obviously some of T'Pol's Vulcan control was seeping over into Trip's personality. That made him pause and ponder T'Pol's behavior also. He had seen her touching him, on the arm, on the shoulder, in public since then. It appears that the seepage was going both ways. _But what about us, what's going on with us? _ He looked up from his own folded hands and T'Pol continued. "To answer your other question, I do have a theory sir. The ensign has been spending a great deal of time and effort to improve her mental skills. It is only logical that all her hard work has succeeded. But she does not have the years of mental discipline behind her that Vulcan children are taught from infancy. If something distressed her then it is logical that she could not hide it from you and that you would be experiencing the full force of her emotions due to an increase in your connection together. As to why it caused you to attack Commander Tucker I think it would be logical to assume that this was partially your doing. You normally control your behavior and do not reach a level of anger that the ensign did. But you were feeling her anger and this was your body's response to it. In turn, your body's response became the ensign's response, as seen in her quarters."

The captain sat there, pondering what T'Pol had told him. It was true that he had been feeling more from Hoshi since she had started working with T'Pol. It was also true that he had only felt that sort of rage once or twice in his whole life. Normally he either kept a sense of humor about things or just let them go. Knowing that this would only create more work for all of them he said, "T'Pol, I would like you to start working with the both of us once we are through this thing. It is obvious that Hoshi and I both need more 'mental discipline' then we naturally have and I would appreciate any exercises you could teach us to keep a rein on our more expressive emotions." He turned his gaze to Trip. "I'd like you to sit in on these sessions if you could. Any insight you could offer Hoshi and I would be invaluable. As a fellow human you might be able to explain something to us that T'Pol might not be able to convey." He paused and then considered. "I'd also like you both in the Infirmary this evening when Hoshi wakes up. Any insight would be appreciated, and well… I could use your support." Both of the commanders looked sympathetic. Not wanting to start wallowing in more negative emotions then he was already feeling he wrapped his captain persona around him once more. "I'll see you at 1700 in the Infirmary. Dismissed." He turned to start work on the waiting reports so did not see the eye roll that passed between Trip and T'Pol as they walked out.

XXXXX

1700 finally came and all the players were back in the Infirmary waiting for the Hoshi's sedative to wear off. Trip and T'Pol were across the room catching up on their day and he and Phlox were by Hoshi's bedside. Phlox had been adamant about giving her anything to waken her. "She is not a puppet to be told what to do and when. All of the medication I have been giving her recently isn't good for her system and you can all wait till she wakes up naturally." Phlox was testy but Jon knew that some of that was a product of how much he cared about Hoshi. Once again Jon was struck by how much the people in the room meant to him. They really were his family. Them and Malcolm and Travis meant a lot to him. Phlox must of saw an expression of this cross Jon's face and he said, in a more kindly tone, "It won't be long now… while I know that you'd like her released from the bed… I would rather she still be restrained till you get to the bottom of this. I would hate to have to sedate her again. I will release her arm so you can hold her hand though." Then he did so and turned to find some work to keep himself occupied until Hoshi awoke. Jon took her hand and sat down next to her bed to wait.

XXXXX

Approximately fifteen minutes later Hoshi began to stir. Standing, Jon started to gently brush the stray hair from Hoshi's forehead and speak softly to her. Trip, T'Pol, and Phlox drew near. Jon spoke softly to her, coaxing her back to consciousness. Hoshi's eyelids fluttered opened. Her gaze was unfocused but slowly came to rest on Jon's face. He smiled down at her, relief flooding his body. He tried to project calm reassurance to her, his hand reaching to gently cup her cheek. Cutting to the chase before Hoshi got worked up about being restrained and in Sick Bay he said gently, "Hoshi, honey, what upset you last night? Was it something about your parents? Is everyone alright at home?"

She sighed, looked away, and wet her lips as if to speak. She continued to gaze off, a look of hopelessness coming over her. He could feel warring emotions coming from her. Finally she turned her head and looked at him. "I opened the message from my parents. My mother went on about inane things, every day items…" she faded off and tears started. "Then my father came on… he was acting very formal, very distant. He went on and on about honor, family obligations, duty… he talked on about how we were one of the foremost families of Japan… he told me about when I was younger, they had had a ceremony performed…" she tried to look away, to turn her head, he wouldn't let her.

Gently holding her face still, he prodded softly, "A ceremony? Why is this so upsetting? What happened?"

Hoshi sniffed again, closing her eyes so she didn't have to look at him. He could feel waves of emotion coming from her… regret, anger, sadness, resignation… then she said in a hollow voice "My parents want me to honor their agreement at this time. As soon as we get back to Jupiter Station, they want me to resign and come home." A shock wave ran through Jon, he heard Trip swear softly, but he remained silent, waiting to hear what else she had to say. Opening her eyes she looked at him again. "The ceremony is an ancient one but still performed in some of the more prominent Japanese families. It can be performed with or _without_ the knowledge of one or both of its participants. It's the…. the yuino…" she trailed off. She could feel his confusion. She was still fuzzy headed and couldn't think of the English translation although it was on the tip of her tongue. Catching sight of T'Pol out of the corner of her eye, her brain supplied the needed word in Vulcan. Sniffing again she said, "koon'ul. They performed a koon'ul and they want me to come home now and honor that. For the **family**… for **their** honor. It is…. it's _my duty_." She closed her eyes again, tears flowing down the sides of her face.

Jon looked to T'Pol to explain the Vulcan word to him and was momentarily taken aback. While T'Pol was standing there as calm as she normally was, not one, but both of her eyebrows were raised in surprise however, as she looked on at Hoshi. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen that happen. Also, there was almost a look of pity on her face. T'Pol straightened up, came back to herself, and looked at him.

"The koon'ul, captain, is the Vulcan betrothal ceremony. I believe what the ensign is saying is that her parents have betrothed her and it is time to… make good on the deal."


	16. Chapter 16

Once again, I don't own them, and I certainly don't make any money off of them.

If they were mine, they'd be a whole lot happier.

Thanks to the online Japanese-English dictionaries out there. I apologize to any native Japanese if I've gooned up any of the cultural parts or incorrectly used the language.

"haha-ue" = most honored mother, the suffix "ue" denoting a great level of respect

"chichi-ue" = most honored father, the suffix "ue" denoting a great level of respect

"-chan" = a suffix attached to a younger person's name as an endearment

"yuino" = Japanese betrothal ceremony

"otome" = daughter

Chapter 16

Two months later:

Hoshi was alone in the lift. She was nervous, but as soon as that emotion was felt, it was smoothed away by a wave of reassurance. She smiled to herself; grateful for the connection she now shared with Jon since their encounter with the Binare. It had been a very long two months since the communication from her parents. She had sent a brief reply of "I'll meet you" and the time they would be arriving at Jupiter Station. That had been it. She had sent nothing more, and nothing had been received back except for a brief text message of a specific place and time on the station after her arrival. Those two months had been nerve wracking for her. Jon was there, both then and now, a steady, rock-like presence in her mind.

Those two months she had put to good use, they both had. Three nights a week had been spent with Trip and T'Pol, practicing and honing skills. It took only a few short weeks and they had been able to exist at opposite ends of the ship for hours on end. By the end of the two months T'Pol had nothing more to teach them and they could communicate with words more often then not. She wasn't the only one communicating like that either. T'Pol had noted that both of them had grown in their mental prowess. She had, more so then him, but then she was the one with the actual telepathic "powers". He was so pleased that he could talk to her mentally, no matter how difficult it was for him at times.

It was still odd to think of her language abilities in those terms. She had never thought about her gift while growing up. She had known that she was different, special even, but beyond that, she had never pondered it much. Unless she were wondering why she couldn't have had a more normal childhood, with friends, with outside interests. But that was behind her now. Now she knew the reasons "why" behind her abilities. Her childhood had shaped who she was now, and helped to shape all her decisions. That brought her back to the present time, and the decision she was getting ready to make. Her eyes flicked over to the readout on the lift wall, wondering how much longer till her floor.

While the early evenings were spent with Trip and T'Pol the nights were spent alone together. They talked sometimes, sometimes just spent time together in silence. There was much to talk about but it was always too painful. She was grateful again for the bond because it made the words unnecessary. She knew, as did he, what she needed to do. What she was getting ready to do in a short time. She shifted nervously from foot to foot. The lift stopped. The door opened.

Pausing to swallow a lump in her throat she stepped out of the lift and into the corridor beyond. She was heading towards one of the myriad of meeting rooms on Jupiter Station. How her parents had managed to get here from Earth was puzzling her. She also had absolutely no idea how they had arranged for a private meeting room. They never left Earth and they were civilians. Dad was just an import shopkeeper. Jupiter Station was all Starfleet. _Hmmm… I guess I'll just have to ask them later how they managed it._ Pushing those thoughts aside she started to go through the exercises that T'Pol had taught her. They were to relax her. Then she went through a different set that would help put a damper on her connection with Jon. While they were forever intertwined now, he did not need to be party to this. She sighed and stopped. She had arrived. She knocked, waiting. A muffled "enter" reached her sensitive ears. Pausing one last time, she opened the door and stepped into the room.

To say that she was shocked was an understatement, but she hoped she covered it well. Her parents were there, waiting for her, kneeling on the other side of a low table. To her knowledge Jupiter Station did not stock traditional Japanese furniture. Yet, here her parents were, kneeling behind a traditional low table, waiting for her. On the table, slowly steaming was a small teapot on a brazier, teacups and tea leaves at the ready. On her side of the table a small cushion waited for her. Knowing she would not get any answers without playing her parents' game, she came in, the door closing silently behind her, and crossed to the cushion meant for her. Sinking down to her knees gracefully, she bowed down low enough for her forehead to almost touch the tabletop. Coming up, she could see her parents incline their heads slightly in response. Her mother cleared her throat and gestured to the items in front of them. "You still remember how?"

"Yes, haha-ue." Hoshi replied and started to make the tea. As she went through the motions she thought about how some warning would have been appreciated. While her Starfleet jumpsuit was comfortable in any position, her Starfleet issue boots were not. The makers of her Starfleet issue boots had not thought to make them comfortable for kneeling at a low table. The backs of the boots were biting into her legs, the crease at the top of her heel bit down even more, and the hard heels dug painfully into her backside. Sighing internally, she focused on finishing the tea. When it was complete, she poured and offered a cup first to her father, and then to her mother. Once she took a cup for herself, they drank together, in silence. Her mind was working over time, going over her relaxation techniques and those for damping down on her connection. She wanted none of what she was feeling to leak through to Jon. While she was serene on the outside she was a swirling cauldron of emotions on the inside. She knew that he was overseeing the changes that were to start on Enterprise and he needed to concentrate. She could feel him across the station, probably in the CO's office, somewhere, worried but pushing through the paperwork he had to sign off on. Her father cleared his throat bringing her back to herself.

"Daughter, do you have something to say to us?" he said gravely. He knelt there, his face a mask, unreadable. Setting her cup down very carefully, she deliberately made eye contact with her father, instead of looking down at her lap, took a small breath, and quietly spoke.

"Yes, chichi-ue. I have received your communiqué dated from several months prior regarding the arrangements you have made on my behalf and on behalf of the family. I am honored that you think so highly of me so as to trouble yourself with this." She paused for a moment and went on. "It is with the deepest regret that I can not honor your wishes and fulfill the agreement you have made. I know that you will be deeply shamed by this and I am saddened that I will bring disgrace to our family. But I **will not**, **cannot**, go through with this arrangement. I am happy to reimburse the groom's family any amount, for their trouble, for their loss of 'face' in this matter. Starfleet has been more then generous with me and the groom's family can have it all. But I will not go through with this." She stopped here, nothing more to say, pushed back from the table, and bowed low to her parents once more, this time allowing her forehead to rest against the floor. She was sure that her parents were furious with her. She knew that the family honor meant almost as much to her parents as it did to the Klingons, and she knew how touchy the Klingons were! There was a long moment's pause, her head still bowed low. Then a sound reached her ears and she was sure that they couldn't be working properly. She heard a low chuckle.

"My daughter," her father said, still chuckling, "You have grown up since I last saw you. You have finally developed a spine." Hoshi sat up slowly and regarded this man sitting across from her. If she didn't know better she would have thought he had been traded out with a doppelganger, like from one of Trip's horrible B movies. Her father's face was wreathed in a smile. Glancing quickly at her mother Hoshi saw that she, too, was smiling. _What is going on here…_ she thought slowly.

"I'm not sure I understand. I thought that you would be angry…." Hoshi trailed off, at a loss for words. She was sure that her refusal to honor the arrangement would have brought angry words from her father, but not laughter. She was confused and couldn't hide it from her face. This made her parents chuckle again.

"Hoshi-chan, you have always been a dutiful daughter to us. We love you and have always wanted to see you happy. Both in your choice of careers and in husbands." Her father said.

"But," Hoshi had gone from confused to slightly angry now. "My career was never my choice, and you said yourself, that you had arranged for my husband!" she blurted out, her carefully controlled façade slipping off.

Her mother spoke finally, warm but firm. "Hoshi-chan, your path was _never_ your choice but at least your career could be. You have a talent that no one has ever possessed, that no one understands, and it would have been disgraceful not to utilize it. But you, yourself, chose exolinguistics, and you, yourself, chose to go to the stars." She paused, and then went on in a lighter tone. "As for a husband, we have chosen one for you, and we did perform the yuino. We chose long ago, but it was based on your marked preference."

Once again Hoshi was without words, her mouth hung open in surprise. She felt an angry retort come to her lips and swallowed it back before it burst out. Swallowing, she inhaled deeply, her nostrils flaring, to regain control over herself. Yelling at her parents would only bring her back down to "child" status in their eyes. Speaking with a calmness she did not feel she said, "It is true that if I had chosen to become something other then what I am it would have been a waste of my talent. I love what I do. I would not trade one moment of my time on Enterprise for anything that I could have had on Earth." At this she saw a sly glance pass between her parents. _They sure look smug… but why?_ Pushing that thought to the side, Hoshi continued. "But I _still_ do not understand about the yuino though. **To whom** have you betrothed me to and why are you not angry over my refusal?"

Her father took a sip from his cup and said nonchalantly, "We are not angry over your refusal, otome, because we think that we can change your mind. In fact, you can stay and catch up with your mother while I go bring him here." He got to his feet slowly and headed for the door.

Hoshi went from surprise to shock. "**What?** He's here? On the station?" Hoshi couldn't contain herself. "But I, I would not want to… I can't meet…" She paused, swallowed, and continued. "I would not want to hurt his feelings by refusing…. I **will not** change my mind." She tried to finish her statement calmly, firmly, but didn't quite manage it.

Her father chuckled once more. "Ah, yes, I believe you will. Wait here Hoshi-chan. I won't be too long." And with that her father left the room, the door closing quietly behind him. She turned to look at her mother who was looking back at her, positively smug now. Her mother reached for the teapot.

"More tea, dear?"


	17. Chapter 17

They're not mine, they would be happier if they were and I make no money off of them.

Enjoy!

Chapter 17

Hoshi gratefully accepted the refill on her cup of tea. Shifting off of her knees into a cross-legged position she took a sip of the steaming liquid and pondered where to go next with this. Mother was equally hard to get information out of as Father was, but she would occasionally drop tidbits here and there if Hoshi prodded carefully. She regarded her mother, who was sipping her own tea slowly, and suddenly realized how very frail she looked. _When had Mother gotten so old… when you were traipsing around in space, no doubt…_ A feeling of guilt ran through her, for being away for so long. She did love her mother, very much in fact, and she knew those feelings were returned. Her parents may have been stern and overbearing, but she understood that they had always wanted the best for her.

Her mother cleared her throat. "Well, my little one, isn't there anything you want to try and pry out of me?" Her mother peered at her, over the rim of her teacup, a smile forming on her lips.

Hoshi sighed, knowing that her mother wasn't going to be fooled by subtlety today. Feeling that she ought to take the bull by the horns she sipped her tea to give her an additional moment to think. "What did Father mean by 'I'd finally grown a spine'?" That comment had actually stung a little when her father had spoken it. _I had always been responsible, as adult like, as I could manage growing up…_

Her mother set the teacup down, rose very slowly, and walked around the table and sank to the ground next to Hoshi. She, too, adopted a cross-legged position and took one of Hoshi's hands in her own. _Her hand is like ice, and her skin, so papery…_ A small wave of sadness at time lost, passed through Hoshi as she sat, holding her mother's hand. Her mother squeezed her hand and spoke. "My Hoshi, he only meant that you had finally grown up enough to stand up to him, to us. You were a great surprise to us, coming later in life, and after so many boys. I had quite given up on ever having a daughter. You were everything we could have hoped for in a daughter and you fulfilled your traditional role well. You hardly gave us any trouble, rarely spoke back, and you were obedient and dutiful. And while we treasured these things, in fact we encouraged them; we knew you would have to break away from us and from the family. We knew that you would have to be your own person."

"But... why then did you want me to play the dutiful daughter?" Hoshi asked softly.

"Ah, little one, when your talents became apparent, and you spent so much time away from home, we had to ensure that you were always protected. If you did not obey us and our rules, or a sensei without question, what trouble could a young girl have gotten herself into? What kind of parents would we have been if we had not tried to protect you from those you weren't ready to protect yourself from. You were in college by the time you were ten years old!" Her mother paused, and rubbed Hoshi's captured hand. She sighed, and then looked into her daughter's eyes. "We could not always be with you. I had all of your brothers to tend to, in addition to tending the shop. Besides, it was good for you, and for your brothers, to learn to be dutiful children. Who will take care of us when we are old?" Her mother finished with a rueful smile.

"Mother, you are **not** that old!" Hoshi protested, but then went on. "But, you were always home, I didn't know Father allowed you to work in the shop." Hoshi was slightly confused. Her mother had always been home when Hoshi arrived back from school.

"Little one, I did not _work in_ the shop. I _oversaw_ the shop, and its employees, so that your Father could do _his work_ unhindered."

"But, I thought, Father was…"

"It is best if you let your Father explain the shop, why we had it, and what it hid."

Now Hoshi was very confused. _What was going on? What did she mean 'what it hid'? And what did that have to do with right now?_

As she pondered these things Hoshi heard the door open. Her father had returned. Steeling herself for the inevitable bad scene that was sure to ensue, she turned and was shocked speechless. Her mouth hung open. Coming in through the open door was her father, with Jon! Opening herself to Jon she felt confusion and concern come from him. The look on Jon's face mirrored what his body was feeling. As the door closed Jon crossed to her, bent down, and asked, "Ensign, are you alright? Your father tracked me down across the station and said I was needed over here."

Hoshi's mind started to work again. Closing her mouth, she formed a reply, nodded and spoke. "I'm fine sir. I can't imagine what my father could have meant. He was supposed to be…" She caught a glace of her father who looked like he was the proverbial cat who swallowed the canary. Arching an eyebrow she looked at him, square in the face, and said "Chichi-ue, isn't there something you would like to say to me… an _EXPLANATION_, perhaps?"

Her father seated himself back at the table, her mother rising to join him, after she brought another cushion for Jon. Jon sat down next to Hoshi on the offered cushion. Her father shifted nervously and searched for words. _Father is never nervous. What is going on? _"Hoshi, I assume your mother talked to you a little before I returned. Let me finish telling the story to you before you ask any questions. It may seem convoluted, but please be patient with an old man." He shifted to get more comfortable, and then began.

"Hoshi, I am almost 90 years old. I have lived a long time and done many things. Many things I can never tell you about. But I can tell you some. First, you are probably wondering about where your betrothed is." Hoshi nodded encouragingly. "He's sitting there beside you." Shock coursed through both Jon and Hoshi. At the startled gasps of those facing him her father held up his hands. "Let me finish please. I promise to tell you all I can." He smiled wickedly, "Although I doubt you'll have to pay him off, dear." Jon shot her a quizzical look, Hoshi shook her head. _Later!_

"But, I digress. The two of you have been 'engaged' for many years. Since around… oh a few years after you started coming to dinner. Once it became clear to us that you liked him, and he liked you, we spoke to Henry and performed a yuino, just in case things worked out for you both. If it hadn't, we never would have mentioned it." At this Jon broke in.

"Wait, you mean, you knew my father? And how does one perform an engagement ceremony without the participants knowing?"

"To answer your second question first, I'm sure Hoshi has already told you that neither of the participants need to be present or even know about the betrothal. Both families were represented and agreed to it. In fact, I think you were on a test run of some sort when your father came by the house that night." He turned and looked at Hoshi. "And you were in Okinawa getting ready to head to Brazil. Now, I will answer your first question. Yes, I knew your father. I knew both him and your mother quite well and was very saddened at his premature death. We worked together. Somewhat. I cannot actually tell you what I used to do, but I am sure that you can piece it together from this. I was responsible for starting the organization that your armory officer used to work for, and still does, on occasion. It was me that actually had him placed on the Enterprise so that he could watch over you, Hoshi-chan." Jon and Hoshi looked at each other in surprise, both of them quickly piecing together what he had told them.

"But that would mean…" Jon started but was quickly stopped by a hand being held up to silence him. He waited for Hoshi's father to continue.

"I am bound not to speak of it. I am retired now, but still, I can never discuss some things." He paused, his expression clearing. "I do have some influence however. How else did you think that two lowly civilian shop keepers got all the way to Jupiter Station with an old fashioned Japanese table and tea pot and arranged for such a secluded conference room on a military installation? Eh?" Regarding Jon, as someone would eye a small child, he continued. "Like I said, I knew both of your parents, and that would mean I knew them a long time, a very long time, almost from when you were a small boy, before your mother died. I have watched you grow up, yes, from a far, but sometimes I was actually in your presence and you never me for who I am." He paused for a sip of his tea, and then added rather smugly, "I am rather good at disguise. I knew you well enough to know that you had shown little interest in girls, or as you grew older, women. It was always space with you, space this, space that, and your father's engines." Her father trailed off, remembering. He smiled and said, "But then, you met my Hoshi." Then he frowned. "And I was not too pleased at first, considering she was young and sheltered and you were a man grown. But I knew you to be an _honorable_ man, and I saw that you were trying hard to _not_ be interested. I also knew that you were the only male my daughter had ever looked at as if you weren't a bug. Her brothers she found to be annoying at worst and occasional playmates at best. Those around her, colleagues for lack of a better description, were all just sexless beings to her. You, she looked at like a woman should look at a man. Not that I wanted to see that. She is my daughter, after all." He made a face and Hoshi actually smiled. Her father went on. "It was after that, when you both were a little _too interested_ in the other, that we sent her off for more language training in Okinawa. But I kept tabs on you, young man." Jon smiled slightly at being called a young man. "You did not see anyone in all the time she was gone. And it was several years." He nodded to himself. "It was then I was convinced. But I said nothing." He trailed off remembering again. A sad smile broke over his face. "I still saw your father from time to time. Henry would ask about Hoshi and how she was doing overseas. He said that you had spoken animatedly about Hoshi on a number of occasions… over drinks one night we laughed at how it would be a fine thing for two such leaders of Starfleet to have children marry. It would be like a dynasty of old…" he trailed off in remembrance, the sad smile still on his face.

Her mother muttered, "You and your _sake_. You were both silly old men! But it **was** amusing to watch you both trying to perform the yuino ceremony while in your cups. It was fortunate that all the boys had moved out of the house by then. You two bull frogs would have woken them up!" She stifled a giggle.

Her father looked sideways at her mother and said sternly, "Who is telling this story, old woman, eh?"

"Well, then get on with it, before the children grow old themselves." She replied, testily.

With a harrumph and a grumpy look at his wife, her father continued on. "Yes, I will admit, we were two silly, very drunk, old men. Jon, the only thing outside of his engine he wanted more was for his beloved son to be happy. He knew that you spent too much time working. You pushed yourself too hard. He was thrilled to hear you talk about any woman with animation. To have it be one of his closest friend's daughters was good fortune for him. I mentioned that in days of old we would have just betrothed the two of you and be done with it. Now days, people wait so long before marrying… if they marry at all. Your father agreed with that sentiment and it was then that I told him about the _yuino_. Neither of us saw any _harm_ in going through an ancient ceremony on your behalves and dreaming just a bit." Jon was stunned. Hoshi was too. _This is MY father we're talking about… and the great Henry Archer?_ She thought.

Her father's face clouded over. "We both thought nothing would ever come of it. It was one night's folly. It was something for two old men to laugh over. And then he died… so suddenly. And then the Klingon was found. And then you swept my daughter off into space. You know how she hated space." He said, as an aside to Jon. Jon nodded, his eyes crinkling at the thought of that day in Brazil. He felt, rather then saw, Hoshi smile at him.

"Then we received so many letters from Hoshi, and she always mentioned you in some fashion, in each and every one. And we know Admiral Forrest quite well, he has been to dinner with us, just recently, and he had a few things to say about that subject himself. Apparently _you _mentioned our daughter on more then one occasion to him. And then our space-hating daughter chose to stay with you after the Xindi." He paused and sipped some tea. Gravely, he began again. "And then, the last episode… with those who shall remain nameless…" At their surprise he added, "I do still have an ear in the department. I know what has happened. While I am sorry that something like this could happen inadvertently against your wills, I can't say that I am unhappy with the results." He shrugged. "I figured it was high time something official be done about it. I would like to see my Hoshi happy before I die, and you too, it would have made your father so happy to see _you_ happy, Jon." Looking back at Hoshi he said briskly, "Plus, we want some grandchildren and your many brothers aren't helping us in that department! So I thought I would put a bug in your ear, so to speak. I got Admiral Forrest in on it, and sent you that communiqué…" he faded off. Now he looked as old as his years. Hoshi was struck again by how much her parents had aged while she was gone. He looked up and into her face. "Can you both forgive an old man for his meddling? Please?" Then he bowed low to them, held it for a long moment, and sat back up, watching and waiting for their response.

She could feel the anger leaving Jon, draining like water from a tub. He was quick to forgive, but she struggled. She felt pity for her father, anger still, but pity, and love too. While on the one hand she was so very angry for the manipulation… for the heartache that he had caused her these last few months… on the other… he was her father… _But HOW COULD HE? _She fumed.

_But it did turn out for the best, didn't it my love?_ She glanced over at Jon and took his hand, his response echoing in her head. She felt him mentally nudge her, prodding her to say something to her parents. She resisted. She had finally stood up to her father and now she knew she was acting like a child by sitting here and pouting over what had been revealed. Jon started again. _Would it be so awful to indulge them in this? We could… if you wanted to…_

She sighed and rolled her eyes. _How romantic_. She shot back flatly and glanced sideways at him. He pulled her hand closer to him, forcing her to turn and look at him. He captured her hand with both of his.

_Hoshi, there is nothing I want more then to spend every moment I have left with you. If we grow to be as old as your parents I would count myself a lucky man. Please…_ his eyes bore into hers. She could feel love and devotion pouring out of him as he silently entreated her. She knew her parents were looking on, curious to know what was transpiring between them.

_But Starfleet!_

_**To Hell with Starfleet! **__ We'll work out the details with them afterwards. It is better to ask for forgiveness, then to ask for permission. Isn't that what our fathers did?_ He smiled at her, an eyebrow arching. She smiled back, and finally nodded.

Turning back to her parents she bowed low to her father, then said, "Chichi-san, there is nothing to forgive. There is only to thank you for the…" she trailed off, not sure of how to finish.

Jon took over, "We want to _thank you_ for the interference. It was the prodding we needed to make complete the 'situation of which we cannot talk about'."

Her parents smiled in relief. Her father clapped his hands together and said, "So, **now** we shall plan the wedding! Leave all the details to me!" The three of them groaned in response. Her father looked at them bemused, "What? Henry and I did a good job planning the engagement!"


	18. Chapter 18

_Epilogue_

They married within the week. Her father would hear of nothing else and, quite frankly, there was no reason to wait. Everything that they had been through since starting their voyages on _Enterprise_ had taught them to seize today. Tomorrow was not guaranteed.

Everyone they would have wanted to be at the ceremony was already in this part of the solar system. _ Enterprise_ was going to be in space dock for at least the next three weeks and the entire crew had been released for leave. After gathering the senior crew they all went on "vacation" to Earth and all just happened to gather at a private compound in Okinawa, Japan. It was the same one that Hoshi had been exiled to all those years ago when her parents had separated her from Jon.

Now it was a happy occasion for her to stand once again in its beautiful formal gardens. This time she was in a white kimono instead of school girl clothes. Her massive amount of black hair was traditionally arranged and adorned. Jon was resplendent in his dress uniform. Hoshi's parents and Admiral Forest stood by beaming.

After the wedding ceremony and festivities the senior crew decided to travel together as a group about the globe. What they told the ever present press corps was that their travel plans were for the benefit of Travis and Phlox who had only been on Earth a handful of times. Everyone wanted to show them their own favorite spots and, after all, Starfleet had put a shuttle pod at their disposal. But in reality, they stuck together to give the newlyweds as much of a honeymoon as they could manage. No one would look at them specifically if they were all together. Jon and Hoshi really didn't mind. These people were their family and they had plenty of time to sneak off to be alone.

Back on board the new arrangements were the perfect thing to keep the couples physically connected. No one outside of the Senior Crew suspected a thing. A year to the day after the whole affair started Starfleet placed beacons, with permission, around Binare to ward off any ships. The effects of the _Enterprise's_ one trip to Binare had not worn off and probably never would. No human would be approaching Binare for a long time and the treaty was eventually renegotiated so that no manpower was ever sent. Only weapon plans and specifications were sent so the Binares could protect themselves.

After that, Binare and Earth had nothing more to do with the other officially. Since the treaty with the Binare had been kept from the public and was known only to the top brass at Starfleet, Binare was eventually forgotten about until several hundred years into the future when the Binare started to venture forth on their own to make contact with those around them.

Jon and Hoshi continued on with Starfleet for another two years. Eventually they decided it was time to retire and start the next phase of their lives together. Their resignations were coincidentally handled at the same time Enterprise was due for another overhaul at Jupiter Station thereby allowing them to leave together with no one being the wiser. Trip and T'Pol stayed on, and Trip was promoted to captain with T'Pol staying on as his second in command. Starfleet wasn't ready quite yet to have a Vulcan be captain over a human crew.

Jon and Hoshi quietly retired to a very secluded piece of property that her father had purchased for them. It was in Alaska, one of the few places left on Earth that was relatively untouched. Starfleet was still concerned that someone would find out the secret surrounding Binare and exploit it somehow. They were more then happy to allow both Jon and Hoshi to fade away into obscurity. With the disability money her father had negotiated for them from Starfleet her father purchased several hundred acres for them, and a surveillance system to go with it. He wanted them to have every opportunity to be alone and produce some long coveted grandchildren for him. Her brothers still had not!

Hoshi's father lived only another ten years after their marriage. He was ecstatic when they blessed him with his first grandchild. He lived to see several more before his death. Jon and Hoshi went on to have several more children and never ended up leaving Alaska for warmer climates except on the rare vacation.

Hoshi went back to her teaching and Alaska was thrilled to have someone of her stature living and working in the state. Jon never stopped exploring. He tackled all of Alaska and decided that in some ways it was just as exciting as exploring space. That explorer's spirit was carried through all of their children down through several generations to a great great great grandson who, like Jonathon Archer, went out into the vast unknown of space on a ship named _Enterprise_.

The End.

_Author's Notes: Thank you to all who read through this story. My apologies for taking so long in getting this out of my head and on paper. This last chapter has been written for a year and real life has prevented me from editing it and posting it here. I feel like my writing has gotten better the longer I progressed and I thank you for reading through the early chapters when my writing was not as tight. _

_I appreciated everyone's reviews and comments. I feel that these helped make this a stronger story through your constructive criticism and comments. I ask that you please review this last chapter of the story and let me know what you think. _

_Extra credit is given if you can identify the great great great grandson!_


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